Preserving your pet from Harvey: the first hours and beyond
Harvey has an estimated 7,300 dog- or cat-owning households, by our count. Very few local vets handle a preservation request often, so this page walks you through the freezing, shipping and waiting yourself.
- What to tell your vet or emergency clinic
- Freezer and power-cut backup plans
- Practitioners chosen by portfolio, not postcode
Harvey, Illinois
Getting your pet frozen and to a specialist from Harvey
A farewell doesn't need a hall. In Harvey, families sometimes gather in the backyard once the ashes return, trade a favorite story, and let a younger child set a photo or a collar beside the urn. Others wait for a mild spring day and plant a shrub. Keeping it simple and unhurried matters far more than getting any detail right.
Harvey households often juggle shift work and long commutes on the Metra Electric line or the tollway, so a pet's last day may have to fit a narrow window. Ask your vet whether a home euthanasia visit is possible, or book the first appointment of the morning when the clinic is calm. A blanket from home and a few unhurried minutes make an exam room feel less strange.
Small communities share things, and someone near Harvey probably owns a chest freezer, a generator or a truck with room for a cooler. Asking for help with something this personal can feel awkward, but most people understand losing an animal. A week of borrowed freezer space is an ordinary favor in the country, and offering to replace the electricity or bring a bag of ice goes a long way.
With roughly 19,849 residents, Harvey is the 124th-largest of the 151 Illinois communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Chicago, about 19 miles (30 km) away, which is where some providers serving Harvey are based.
Nearby, we also have local pages for South Holland (3 miles), Dolton (3 miles) and Homewood (3 miles), which can help if your vet or the provider you prefer is based there.
Our estimate
7,300
Harvey: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
19,849 ÷ 2.5 = 7,940 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 7,300. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
610
Estimated dog and cat losses in Harvey each year
How we calculated this
7,300 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 610 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.
Where these figures come from: Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
How Illinois thinks about cremation, and where preservation fits
In Illinois, about 60.2%[5] of people are cremated, with burial still common. That mix shows up in pet aftercare too, and preservation sits alongside both. Some families preserve a paw or tail and bury the rest in the garden; others freeze-dry their whole pet. There's no local custom telling you which is right, which leaves you free to choose.
For the Illinois figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Harvey rather than as pet data.
Seasons, shipping and humidity in Harvey
Frozen ground through January, February, March and December in Harvey 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.
In January, February, March and December, it's tempting to leave a pet outside in Harvey 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.
Published prices and waits for Harvey owners
Pet preservation is priced by weight, method and pose, not by city, so what you'd pay from Harvey 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.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Illinois overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
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
Keeping a preserved pet you loved is legal almost everywhere, but selling or passing on some preserved species later can be restricted, especially birds and reptiles covered by wildlife-trade rules. Keep the practitioner's invoice, your pet's purchase or breeder records and any permits with the finished piece, so its origin is never in doubt. Remains you don't keep follow the Illinois guidance below.
The official Illinois local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Harvey.
For Illinois's rules on burying a pet at home or scattering ashes, see the Illinois guide. Local rules in Harvey can be stricter than the state's, especially in homeowners' associations and rentals.
The first hours, step by step
- Tell your child what's happening in simple words before the freezer door closes, rather than leaving it as something unspoken in the kitchen.
- Double-bag a small pet and place them in a lidded tub, so they can't be squashed by frozen food.
- Let your child help pick a pose by looking through photos together: asleep in a curl, or upright the way they'd wait by the cage door.
- Explain the wait honestly: many months, and a pet who will look asleep rather than alive when they come home.
- Make a memory box together while you wait, with a drawing, the name card from the cage and a favorite photo.
- Agree where the finished piece will live, somewhere your child can see it without handling it every day.
Other ways to keep your pet close
Losing an animal can land harder than the people around you expect, and on a close Harvey block it is often a pet the neighbors knew too. If the sadness lingers, national pet-loss hotlines are a phone call away, and your vet may know of a support group in the south suburbs. Saying the animal's name out loud, instead of avoiding it, tends to help children most.
or compare your instinct with the poll results, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, Our services overview lays out every option side by side. Close to Harvey we also cover Joliet, Rockford, Aurora and Elgin; the full list for Illinois and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
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Questions people ask
How does Harvey's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Harvey, 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.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Harvey?
The closest communities we cover are South Holland (about 3 miles), Dolton (about 3 miles) and Homewood (about 3 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Harvey too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
How many pet owners live in Harvey?
By our estimate, about 7,300 households in Harvey have at least one dog or cat, and around 610 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 19,849, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Why does the Harvey 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.
How many families in Harvey choose pet preservation?
Very few. By our estimate, about 7,300 households in Harvey have a dog or cat, and around 610 dogs and cats die there each year. One market report suggests about 7%[9] of pet owners choose taxidermy, and freeze-drying is the bigger share of the work. Most families who ask about preservation end up with a mix of options.
The only taxidermist near Harvey does deer. Can they do my cat?
They might, but ask to see cats or dogs they've finished before you agree. Recreating a pet's face is a different skill from mounting game, because you know every detail of how your pet looked. A game taxidermist can still be a big help in the first hours, by freezing your pet properly or pointing you to a pet specialist.
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] Freeze-drying a cat or small dog costs about 10 times a private cremation. Our estimate: midpoint freeze-dry $1,750 ($1,000–$2,500) / $175 (private cremation 3–24 lb, NC provider). How we calculate.
- [9] About 7% of pet owners choose taxidermy, per Astute Analytica. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2024.
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