Thinking about preserving your pet in Allentown?
Roughly 3,850 dogs and cats die in Allentown 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.
- Real published prices, never guesses
- Care tips for a preserved pet at home
- Gentler options if full preservation isn't right
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Finding a practitioner from Allentown
On the anniversary, some Allentown families revisit the rose garden in Cedar Creek Parkway, light a candle in the front window or bring a bag of food to a Lehigh Valley shelter. Kids often want a job, such as drawing a picture to lean against the urn or picking out a flower. Keeping the gesture modest means it can happen every year without strain.
A goodbye in Allentown might be a quiet hour in a rowhouse living room, neighbors stopping by on the porch, or a family walk through the Lehigh Parkway after the ashes come home. The city has large Puerto Rican and Dominican communities alongside long-rooted Pennsylvania Dutch families, and each brings its own customs, prayers and food. Tell whoever handles your pet which traditions matter in your house.
A good first call from Allentown is to someone who preserves pets, not to a cremation provider. Describe your pet's species, weight, how they died and how long they've been frozen. A practitioner can often tell you straight away whether preservation is likely to work, which saves you money and heartache if it isn't.
Allentown's population is around 126,044, the 3rd-largest of the 36 Pennsylvania communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve Allentown are based about 48 miles away in Philadelphia, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
Allentown sits within easy reach of Bethlehem (6 miles), Easton (15 miles) and Pottstown (26 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Allentown; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
46,500
Allentown: dog- or cat-owning households, our estimate
How we calculated this
126,044 ÷ 2.5 = 50,418 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 46,500. A household with several pets counts once.
Our estimate
3,850
dog and cat deaths per year in Allentown, our estimate
How we calculated this
46,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 3,850 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.
Sources for the statistics above: American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
How Pennsylvania thinks about cremation, and where preservation fits
Roughly 61.3%[5] of those who die in Pennsylvania are cremated. Whichever way your family leans, preservation doesn't have to replace it. Some families bury the body and keep a cleaned skull; others cremate and keep a single freeze-dried paw. Think about how a preserved piece would fit alongside the ways your family already remembers the people and animals it has lost.
That Pennsylvania rate is a human one, published by NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). We quote it for Allentown only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
Heat, cold and a freezer that mustn't fail in Allentown
Winter storms in Allentown 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.
Cold, dry winter air in Allentown 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.
Prices by pet size, and what adds to them
The simplest guide is weight. One published US price list charges USD 650[6] for a pet under a pound, $2,095 plus $49 a pound for pets of 6 to 19 lb, and $2,781 plus $69 a pound above 20 lb[7]. On our reading of that list, a 10 lb cat comes to about USD 2,291–2,585[8]. Other studios charge less, and some more.
The full price table by product is on our Pennsylvania page, and the services page explains what each option includes.
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When the rules in Pennsylvania come into play
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.
Not sure which office covers Allentown? The Pennsylvania local government directory is the official list.
Start with the Pennsylvania rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Allentown's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
A checklist for the first hours
- 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, which keeps bags of frozen food from pressing down on them.
- Let your child help pick a pose from photos, such as curled asleep or sitting up the way they sat at 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
From December to March, gray skies and short days settle over the Lehigh Valley, and a pet's empty bed can feel much louder in that stillness. Grief like that is ordinary, not excessive. Pet bereavement helplines, online support rooms and counselors with experience in animal loss are all within reach from Allentown, and several services can talk with you in Spanish if that is more comfortable.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, use the free tools before you ring anyone, read our guides and latest articles, See what each option includes on our services page. Close to Allentown we also cover Reading, Philadelphia, Erie and Bethlehem; the full list for Pennsylvania and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
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Questions people ask
How many pet owners live in Allentown?
By our estimate, about 46,500 households in Allentown have at least one dog or cat, and around 3,850 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 126,044, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Why does the Allentown 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 61.3%[5] of Pennsylvania residents are cremated. There is no official pet equivalent, and inventing one would be worse than quoting a real, clearly labelled number.
Will I have to travel to Philadelphia to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Philadelphia (roughly 48 miles from Allentown) 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.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Allentown?
Usually yes. Bethlehem is about 6 miles away, Easton is about 15 miles away and Pottstown is about 26 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Can I keep my pet's skull or skeleton instead of a full preservation?
Yes. Some practitioners clean and whiten a skull, and a few articulate full skeletons, especially for birds, reptiles and small mammals. It's a quieter keepsake than a lifelike piece and suits people who like the idea of keeping something real but find fur and glass eyes unsettling. Ask about the method used, the wait and whether the remaining body can go for cremation.
Is it worth driving my pet to a practitioner instead of shipping?
If the drive is manageable, it removes the worry about a delayed parcel, and you get to meet the practitioner and see their work. Pack your pet frozen in a cooler with dry ice or plenty of bagged ice, keep the car cool and go straight there. For a long distance, overnight shipping early in the week is usually safer than a multi-day drive.
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 Pennsylvania's cremation rate at 61.3% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] One U.S. pet preservation studio charges USD 650 to freeze-dry a pet under 1 lb, with a 4–6 month turnaround. Animal Family Pet — Pet Preservation Pricing & Shipping, 2026.
- [7] An Ohio pet preservation studio prices freeze-drying for pets over 20 lb at $2,781 plus $69 per pound, and 6–19 lb pets at $2,095 plus $49 per pound. Animal Family Pet Preservation – Pricing, 2026.
- [8] 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.
- [9] 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.
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