SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — For many South Dakotans, pets are no longer just companions, they’re family. Now, that shift is showing up in how people say goodbye, as an interest in pet cemeteries grows.
“There’s really not many good options for people when a pet dies, some of those families need a place to go,” Steve Wintz, a funeral director in Yankton said of pet cemeteries.
His funeral home had one of the first pet cemeteries in the state, started by Stan Ray in 1987 before the cemetery was later purchased and named by Wintz Funeral Home.
Shot fired after an argument in NW Sioux Falls early Monday
He said while they do offer pet burials, many of their clients choose to cremate their pets instead because their remains can travel via urn. Their business opened their own pet crematorium in recent years. Wintz said they average around three pets per week…