Pet freeze-drying and taxidermy in Franklin Park
Roughly 550 dogs and cats die in Franklin Park 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.
- What to tell your vet or emergency clinic
- Freezer and power-cut backup plans
- Practitioners chosen by portfolio, not postcode
Franklin Park, Illinois
Where Franklin Park owners find freezer space and practitioners
When a pet dies, friends sometimes say the wrong thing, and it can feel lonely to mourn an animal. Talking to someone who gets it helps: a trained listener on a pet-loss line, a local group your vet recommends, or a relative who knew the pet. Some people find it useful to write a few lines about the animal's funniest habits and read them back later.
Early and late shifts are common in Franklin Park, with so many residents working in plants, warehouses and at the airport. If your pet's decline gives you some warning, ask the vet for a time that suits your schedule, or whether they visit homes. Wherever it happens, a familiar blanket and a few quiet minutes together make the goodbye kinder for both of you.
Overnight carriers don't always reach small towns overnight. From Franklin Park, you may need to drive the cooler to a depot or shipping counter in a larger centre such as Chicago to make the cut-off. Ask your practitioner what service they want, then call the depot ahead to confirm the late pickup time and whether they accept packages containing dry ice.
About 18,045 people live in Franklin Park, which makes it the 140th-largest of the 151 Illinois communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Chicago, about 14 miles (22 km) away, which is where some providers serving Franklin Park are based.
If you want to compare providers, look at Melrose Park (2 miles), Elmwood Park (3 miles) and Bensenville (4 miles). Distance matters because pickup fees and the time until the ashes come back both grow with the drive.
Our estimate
6,650
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Franklin Park
How we calculated this
18,045 ÷ 2.5 = 7,218 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 6,650. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
550
Estimated dog and cat losses in Franklin Park each year
How we calculated this
6,650 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 550 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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.
If a number here surprises you, the primary material is American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science; we only apply it to this.
Cremation, burial and preservation in Illinois
Cremation stands at about 60.2%[5] in Illinois, and many families mix traditions across generations. Older relatives may remember pets buried under a tree in the yard; younger ones may think of ashes, or even freeze-drying. It can help to let each person say what they would keep if they could: a paw, a collar, a photo, the whole pet. The answers often overlap more than you'd expect.
Source for the Illinois number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Franklin Park, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Keeping your pet frozen through Franklin Park's weather
Winter storms in Franklin Park can bring ice, fallen lines and days without power. If your pet is waiting in a freezer, keep the lid closed, pile blankets on top and find dry ice or a generator before the second day. A full chest freezer kept shut holds its cold far longer than an upright model, and a garage freezer in January gets some help from the weather.
Frozen ground through January, February, March and December in Franklin Park means burying anything you don't keep may have to wait until spring. That's fine. Whatever the practitioner returns, or your whole pet if you change your mind, can stay in the freezer until the soil softens. Label the bag clearly with your pet's name and the date so nobody opens it by mistake.
What pet preservation costs in Franklin Park
Pet insurance rarely helps here. Standard policies generally don't cover aftercare, and end-of-life add-ons have low ceilings; one wellness add-on could reimburse up to $650[6] toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Budget from savings, try our preservation cost estimator and ask whether the practitioner takes a deposit up front with the balance due before return shipping.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Illinois: Illinois costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Freeze-dry & taxidermy cost estimator
Estimate cost and waiting time for freeze-drying or taxidermy by size and pose.
Permits, contracts and paperwork in Illinois
Taxidermy licensing mostly exists to stop trade in protected wildlife, not to regulate pet owners. Still, a careful practitioner will ask what species your pet is and where they came from, and may ask for proof that an unusual pet was legally kept. That's a good sign. If part of your pet is going to be buried or cremated, the usual rules for Illinois apply to that part.
The official Illinois local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Franklin Park.
Start with the Illinois rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Franklin Park's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
What to do first if you might preserve your pet
- Don't rush into a decision, rush into a freezer. Which method and which practitioner are questions that can wait.
- Keep your pet away from warmth: no soft bedding, no sunny window, no car.
- Wrap them in two heavy bags, squeeze out the air, and get them frozen inside hours.
- Talk with the people you live with about where a preserved pet would live and who would see it every day.
- Look at finished pets of your species from each practitioner, ideally unedited photos in daylight.
- Ask for a written quote covering base, chosen pose, shipping there and back, and later touch-ups.
- Expect a long wait and plan how you'll mark those months, for example with a small memorial at home.
Caring for the piece, and for the memories
A Franklin Park farewell is usually a family affair at home. When the ashes return, some households set out a candle, a photo and the pet's collar on a side table and share the stories that make everyone laugh. A short prayer suits some families; others simply sit together. Children can help decide where the urn will live or which flowers go in the garden.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, run the numbers with the free planning tools, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones, See what each option includes on our services page. Close to Franklin Park we also cover Chicago, Rockford, Aurora and Joliet; the full list for Illinois and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
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Where would a preserved pet live in your home?
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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
Is cremation common in Illinois?
For people, yes: about 60.2%[5] of Illinois deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Franklin Park follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Roughly how many pets die in Franklin Park each year?
Our estimate is around 550. It comes from Franklin Park's population (about 18,045), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 6,650 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Will I have to travel to Chicago to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Chicago (roughly 14 miles from Franklin Park) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
Does the Franklin Park climate change what I should do first?
Only the timing. In July, with highs near 85°F, cool the body and book collection the same day. In January, February, March and December, when lows sit below freezing, a home burial may have to wait for a thaw, so cremation with ashes returned keeps your options open.
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.
What should I send the practitioner besides my pet?
Photographs, and plenty of them. The face in good daylight from the front and both sides, how your pet's ears and eyes looked when relaxed, their favorite sleeping position and any unusual markings. Mention quirks too, like a tongue that always poked out. Practitioners never met your pet, so these details are what make the finished piece look like them rather than any cat or dog.
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] Embrace's Wellness Rewards add-on could reimburse up to $650 toward cremation, burial and keepsakes. Pet Insurance Review - Does Pet Insurance Cover Euthanasia? (Dec 2023), 2023.
- [7] Freeze-drying a 10 lb cat at one published price list would cost about USD 2,290–2,590. Our estimate: Low: 2,095 + 49 x (10-6) lb; High: 2,095 + 49 x 10 lb. How we calculate.
Tell us about your pet and what you'd like kept
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.