Thinking about preserving your pet in New Albany?
Roughly 1,150 dogs and cats die in New Albany 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 first, decide later
- Published prices by pet size
- Help finding a specialist who takes your species
New Albany, Indiana
Getting your pet frozen and to a specialist from New Albany
Because Louisville is just over the river, New Albany residents have more choices for pet-loss support than most Indiana towns their size, from counseling practices to group meetings and online circles. A vet you trust is a good place to ask for names. Many local vets also do home visits for euthanasia, which can make the last hour calmer for everyone in the house.
A farewell can be as simple as a family meal where each person shares a favorite story, or a quiet walk along the riverfront after the ashes come home. Children often do better with something to do, like painting a stone or choosing a flower to plant. If a grandparent in Kentucky was close to the animal, a phone or video call brings them into the moment.
Dry ice isn't always stocked in a town the size of New Albany. If you're shipping your pet to a distant practitioner, you may need to buy it in a larger centre such as Louisville on the morning you send. Handle it with gloves, keep the car windows cracked while you drive and never seal it into an airtight container, because the gas needs to escape.
New Albany's population is around 37,463, the 26th-largest of the 50 Indiana communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Louisville, about 6 miles (9 km) away, which is where some providers serving New Albany are based.
Families in New Albany often end up using a provider from Clarksville (3 miles), Louisville (5 miles, a larger centre) and Jeffersonville (7 miles). That is normal: crematories serve a radius, not a single town, and the drive is priced into collection.
Our estimate
14,000
New Albany: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
37,463 ÷ 2.5 = 14,985 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 14,000. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
1,150
New Albany families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
14,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 1,150 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.
The published sources behind those figures are American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Why preservation means speaking up early in Indiana
With cremation at roughly 56.5%[5] in Indiana, 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.
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) is where the Indiana figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in New Albany tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
How New Albany weather changes your timeline
With June, July and August running hot in New Albany, the window between death and damage is short. Don't lay your pet on a soft bed or carpet, which holds heat against the body, and don't leave them in a car, even briefly. If you have to transport them to a clinic freezer, pack them in a cooler with bagged ice under a towel and run the air conditioning.
Long hot spells across June, July and August strain home freezers in New Albany, especially ones sitting in a garage without air conditioning. A freezer working hard in a hot garage may not hold a steady deep freeze. Move your pet to an indoor freezer if you can, or put a cheap thermometer inside overnight; you want 0°F (−18°C) or colder.
Prices by pet size, and what adds to them
Waiting is part of the cost. Freeze-drying takes three to six months for small pets and seven or more for large dogs[6], and both freeze-drying and taxidermy often run 6–12 months[7]. One studio offers faster turnaround of six to eight weeks for 50% more[8]. A rush fee can make sense, but a frozen pet can safely wait, so it's rarely necessary.
The Indiana 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.
Permits, contracts and paperwork in Indiana
Before you commit to preservation, check two things with the practitioner: whether your species needs any permit where they are, and whether they're allowed to receive it. Rules for domestic cats and dogs are light; rules for native birds and reptiles can be strict and vary by place. If the rest of your pet is going to be buried or cremated, check what Indiana allows for home burial and scattering too.
Not sure which office covers New Albany? The Indiana local government directory is the official list.
The Indiana page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. New Albany's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
A checklist for the first hours
- Freeze first, decide later. Once your pet is frozen and stays that way, taking a few weeks to choose does no harm.
- Blot, don't wash. Dab off any moisture with paper towel and keep the coat as dry as it is.
- Pose gently and bag tightly. A natural sleeping curl, then two heavy bags with the air pressed out to prevent freezer burn on the face and ears.
- Plan for a power cut. Know where you'd get dry ice or a backup freezer if the electricity went off for more than a day.
- Ask two or three practitioners whether they take your species and size, how long their queue is and how they want your pet delivered.
- Ship or drop off frozen, early in the week if shipping, and ask for confirmation the moment your pet arrives.
Living with a preserved pet in New Albany
People who lose a pet in an old river town like New Albany sometimes feel that everyone else has moved on while they're still reeling. That gap is common. Grief keeps its own calendar, and the second or third month can be harder than the first. If the weight won't shift, a pet-loss hotline or a counselor experienced with animal bereavement can help, and there's no shame in calling.
use the free tools before you ring anyone, Compare every option on our services page, look through our guides and the blog, or see how other readers answered in our polls. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover South Bend, Carmel, Indianapolis and Evansville, and every city in Indiana.
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 you were preserving your pet, which route would you lean toward?
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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
Which nearby towns can I compare with New Albany?
The closest communities we cover are Clarksville (about 3 miles), Louisville (about 5 miles) and Jeffersonville (about 7 miles). Providers based in those places often serve New Albany too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
How do Indiana attitudes to cremation compare?
NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) puts the Indiana human cremation rate at about 56.5%[5]. We show it on the New Albany page because pet aftercare choices tend to track it: where cremation is normal for people, communal and private pet cremation are both easy to find.
How does New Albany's weather affect pet aftercare?
July is the hottest month in New Albany, with average highs around 89°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January and February, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Will I have to travel to Louisville to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Louisville (roughly 6 miles from New Albany) 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.
The only taxidermist near New Albany 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.
Does the euthanasia injection affect preservation?
Generally, no. Practitioners routinely work on pets who were put to sleep. What matters far more is what happens next: how much fur was clipped, whether your pet was kept cool and how soon they were frozen. Mention any shaved patches or bandaged areas when you describe your pet, so the practitioner knows what to expect when your pet thaws.
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 Indiana's cremation rate at 56.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Freeze-dry preservation takes 3–6 months for small pets, 7+ months for large dogs and up to a year for very large animals. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2024.
- [7] Both traditional taxidermy and freeze-drying typically take 6–12 months, sometimes longer. Memorials.com – Pet Taxidermy Guide, 2025.
- [8] Paying 50% extra for VIP service cuts freeze-dry turnaround to 6–8 weeks at Animal Family Pet Preservation. Animal Family Pet Preservation – Pricing, 2026.
- [9] Freeze-drying a pet costs about 6 times as much as an average cremation. Our estimate: USD 1,500 (midpoint of USD 1,000–2,000) / USD 250. How we calculate.
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