Not so long ago, Surrey was home to the only active cemetery dedicated to departed pets in British Columbia.
In the early 1950s, Burnaby residents Daniel and Nellie Blair unexpectedly lost their beloved dog to a car accident and were at a loss of what to do. If they had lived in a more rural area, they may have buried their pets on their own land. But the Blairs didn’t have that option in their urban home.
Losing their pet was a life-changing experience for the family. They felt strongly there had to be another way to lay their dog to rest, and that other pet owners would feel the same.
After much research, the Blairs found that all they needed to create their own pet cemetery was a business license and a suitable plot of land. In 1952, they settled on a five-acre plot in rural Newton, on a hill crest near 76 Avenue and 147 Street. The land would need clearing but it was perfectly central and easy to access. Thus began the B.C. Pet Cemetery, the only one of its kind in the province at that time.
The land was cleared, and a park-like atmosphere developed. For a modest fee, a pet could be interred with a monument and a funeral service could be provided. It filled a need that resonated with many. Advertisements for the service appeared in local newspapers, and it wasn’t long before word of mouth spread. Although most pets who were laid to rest in the cemetery belonged to local families, some were from as far away as the Yukon and Seattle.
In some ways, a pet burial was not unlike a human burial. A satin-lined coffin would be selected, an appropriately sized grave dug, and the coffin would be transported by the family sedan to be lowered in its final resting place.
Over the years, it became the final resting place of more than 670 pets including birds, dogs, cats and even horses. Gravestones were engraved with touching sentiments such as “Our Precious Angel Sweet Muffie, A Gift From Heaven.”
Nellie continued on with the pet cemetery after her husband Daniel passed away in 1970.
Elaborate headstones, such as rose-coloured marble carvings from India and laser-etched images on granite were found throughout the cemetery. It was a rare day that one could go by without seeing a person taking in the peaceful nature of the site.
By 1987, Nellie Blair was 82 and had been at the helm of the B.C. Pet Cemetery for 35 years: it was time for her to retire. She put the property up for sale, and ads appeared in the Surrey Leader with the tagline “Love of Pets is our Business.” Local realtor Thomas Melski continued with the cemetery with just as much compassion and patience as Nellie Blair. It was renamed the Surrey Pet Cemetery, as it was no longer the only such place in B.C.
When a new owner took over the land in 1995, the cemetery stopped accepting remains and the property was subdivided for development. While it was Nellie Blair’s wish that the cemetery continue, pet cemeteries are not protected by the provincial government and there was nothing that stood in the way of development.
In 1997, the pet cemetery went up for sale again but was listed now as only a half-acre plot for $172,000. The rest of the land had been approved for subdivision into 22 single family lots and the location was revised to 78 Avenue and 147A Street.
The overgrown, half-acre plot of land still exists today, with a few headstones still visible.
https://www.surreynowleader.com/community/history-abandoned-surrey-pet-cemetery-was-once-a-sanctuary-for-grieving-pet-owners/
https://www.peacearchnews.com/news/surrey-now-s-abandoned-pet-cemetery-now-surrounded-by-houses/
Human remains may also be interred there, judging by a few of the grave markers on the site. The coordinates will take you to the grave marker of CPL Murial Lily “Dixie” Dixon Clerke.
Note: February 2024
A development proposal sign has now been placed on the property to subdivide the lane for three single-family homes. Turnberry Developments, which owned the property for 30 years, “has investigated if there are human remains on this property. None were discovered, nor did we find any urns containing ashes.”
According to the website findagrave.com, one of the headstones represents the Wilson family — the cremated remains of a husband, a wife and their pets. The website states a man named Stanley Gray also chose to have his cremains buried in the pet cemetery along with his three pets, Bonnie, Sport and Cappy.
A petition has been started to save the cemetary. https://chng.it/6NB7yMnTRZ
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