Preserving your pet from Burbank: the first hours and beyond
Roughly 880 dogs and cats die in Burbank each year, by our estimate, and most go to cremation by default. If you'd like to preserve yours, tell your vet today and get them into a freezer within hours.
- Freeze-drying, taxidermy or a partial keepsake
- Honest about waits and results
- Written quotes you can compare
Burbank, Illinois
What pet preservation is like in Burbank
In Burbank, many households would sooner hold the goodbye in the living room or on the back porch, rather than make a car trip with a sick animal. Ask your vet whether they, or a mobile service on the Southwest Side, can come to the house. Pick a collection time that lets the family gather and say goodbye without watching the door.
A farewell in Burbank might be a few family members around the kitchen table, a prayer or a poem, and a candle lit next to a photograph. Children can draw pictures, make a memory box or choose a plant for the front garden. Some families hold the gathering when the ashes come home, while others wait for the pet's birthday or the first warm spring weekend.
Snow, floods or a long drive can make reaching a larger centre such as Chicago from Burbank impossible on the day your pet dies. Don't wait for the roads to clear before cooling your pet. Use your own freezer, a neighbor's, or a cooler topped up with fresh ice every few hours, and write down each step, because a practitioner will ask.
Burbank is home to about 28,578 people, the 73rd-largest of the 151 Illinois communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Burbank are based about 12 miles away in Chicago, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
The closest communities we cover are Oak Lawn (2 miles), Evergreen Park (4 miles) and Palos Hills (4 miles). Providers serving those towns often travel to Burbank too, so it can be worth asking them for a quote.
Our estimate
10,500
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Burbank
How we calculated this
28,578 ÷ 2.5 = 11,431 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 10,500. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
880
Estimated dog and cat losses in Burbank each year
How we calculated this
10,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 880 a year. A floor, not a ceiling.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
The numbers above come from American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, if you'd like to read the original sources.
Aftercare traditions in Illinois, and choosing to preserve
With cremation at roughly 60.2%[5] in Illinois, neither burial nor cremation dominates. That balance often means vets here ask families what they'd like rather than assuming. Use the question: say you're considering preservation and want your pet frozen for now. If you later choose burial or cremation instead, a week in a freezer has cost you nothing.
That Illinois rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Burbank only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
How Burbank weather changes your timeline
In January, February, March and December, it's tempting to leave a pet outside in Burbank because it's cold enough. Please don't. Sunlight, wild animals and daytime thaws are all real risks, and a preserved pet needs to have stayed frozen without interruption. If there's no freezer space at home, ask your vet, or a friend with a chest freezer, to hold your pet for a few days.
Cold, dry winter air in Burbank is kind to freeze-dried work, but carrying a preserved pet from a cold car into a warm house can fog a glass case with condensation. If your pet comes home in January, leave the box closed indoors for an hour or two so it warms gradually before you unwrap it.
How much to budget for preservation
Pet preservation is priced by weight, method and pose, not by city, so what you'd pay from Burbank depends mostly on your pet and the practitioner you choose. One US price guide quotes freeze-drying a cat or small dog at $1,000–$2,500[6] and traditional taxidermy at $800–$2,500[7]. Large dogs cost several thousand dollars more. The published prices below come from US price lists and cost guides.
The Illinois price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Freeze-dry & taxidermy cost estimator
Estimate cost and waiting time for freeze-drying or taxidermy by size and pose.
Rules worth knowing in Illinois
Most people never need to think about law when preserving a pet. The exceptions are wild or native animals, pets that died of a notifiable disease, and pets sent across a border, where animal health paperwork may apply. If any of those fit, raise it with your vet and practitioner first. Anything you don't keep follows the ordinary burial and scattering rules.
Illinois keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Burbank.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Illinois level first; our Illinois rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Burbank or your HOA adds anything.
What to do first if you might preserve your pet
- Tell your vet or clinic straight away that preservation is on the table; otherwise your pet may go out with the cremation pickup that afternoon.
- Lay your pet in a relaxed position on their side, legs gently folded, before the body stiffens. Don't wash or brush them.
- Double-bag them using two thick plastic bags, squeezing the air from each one before you close it.
- Put them in the coldest freezer available inside a few hours; a refrigerator isn't cold enough. Once they're in, resist the urge to open the bags and check.
- Take photos you already have and gather more: the face from different sides, the natural set of the ears, every marking. Your practitioner works from these.
- Choose a practitioner by their pet work, then make sure cost, deposit, return date and how they'll travel are written down before your pet leaves the house.
Keepsakes, displays and gentler options
The quiet after a pet dies can be the hardest part, especially in a small house where the animal was always underfoot. Some people find comfort in talking with neighbors who knew the pet, or in a support group their vet recommends. Phone and online pet-loss services are available too, and there's no set timeline for feeling better; some days will simply be harder than others.
look through our guides and the blog, or look at how readers voted in our polls, Compare every option on our services page, run the numbers with the free planning tools. If you live between Burbank and Chicago, Joliet, Rockford and Elgin, either page applies. Every other community in Illinois, and all of the United States, is listed too.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
Where would a preserved pet live in your home?
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If your pet died today, could you freeze them properly within a few hours?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Questions people ask
Why does the Burbank page quote a human cremation rate?
Because it is the best local signal we have. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) reports about 60.2%[5] of Illinois residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Is Burbank big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 10,500 Burbank households keep a dog or cat and around 880 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 28,578), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Burbank?
The closest communities we cover are Oak Lawn (about 2 miles), Evergreen Park (about 4 miles) and Palos Hills (about 4 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Burbank too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
How does Burbank's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Burbank, with average highs around 85°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
How do I look after a preserved pet at home?
Protect it from sunlight, damp and insects. Direct sun fades fur, humid air can soften freeze-dried tissue and moths or carpet beetles can damage fur over time. Keep the piece in a dry room away from bathrooms and heating vents, dust it with a soft makeup brush or a hair dryer on cool, and never wash it. A glass case helps with all three.
Should I tell my vet about preservation before a planned euthanasia?
Yes, ideally when you book. The clinic can then plan to put your pet in a freezer rather than add them to the crematory collection, clip only a small patch of fur for the injection and give you a quiet room with time afterward to settle your pet into a natural shape. If you've already chosen a practitioner, ask them whether they have any requests for the vet, and pass them on.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Illinois's cremation rate at 60.2% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Memorials.com puts freeze-drying at $1,000–$2,500 for a cat or small dog and $2,000–$5,000+ for a medium to large dog. Memorials.com – Pet Taxidermy Guide, 2025.
- [7] Memorials.com puts traditional taxidermy at $800–$2,500 for a cat or small dog and $1,500–$5,000+ for a medium to large dog. Memorials.com – Pet Taxidermy Guide, 2025.
- [8] On a per-pound-above-threshold reading of its price list, one Ohio studio would charge about $4,851 to freeze-dry a 50 lb dog. Our estimate: $2,781 + $69 × (50 − 20) lb. How we calculate.
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