Funeral for a Friend

Here lie Blinky, Old Mac, Whiskers and Ruby. Friends who were loyal to the end, never questioned, rarely complained. A selfish breed they weren’t, and the people who knew them best would say they never had a better friend. So how did they end up in this quiet corner of Calabasas? They simply died. Here lie over 2,000 animals, pets who have been buried here since the late 1920s.

The Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park, 10 acres in the foothills of Calabasas, includes goats and chickens, rats and horses, dogs and cats. Ordinary pets lie alongside more celebrated ones: Pete, the speckled pooch from “Our Gang”; Topper, Hopalong Cassidy’s horse; Scout, Tonto’s steed in “The Lone Ranger,” and a monkey that belonged to Mae West. All were equally cherished. Many of their former owners still make regular pilgrimages to their grave sites, bringing ornate plastic flowers, cards, pictures, and rose petals to decorate the small plots.

“We have one lady who shows up here every day in the morning on her way to work. Sometimes she won’t even get out of her car, but simply drives by the spot where her pet is buried,” said park manager Sandy Dunaway.

Headstones and markers date back to 1928, when the first dog was buried here (cause of death unknown).

“It’s beautiful here. This sure doesn’t look like a cemetery,” says Ed Stevens, 55, of Sherman Oaks, who has eight dogs buried here.

On a clear Sunday morning, the cemetery looks like any public recreational park. Devoted survivors bring lawn chairs, books and picnic baskets to spend time with their departed pets. Others bring hand clippers to clear the overgrown grass around markers, and wax to polish the headstones.

A burial costs $430 to $2,800, depending on the kind of casket and the size of the pet. A last visit is available in the “slumber room,” a place where mourners often put a leash, collar, or favorite chew toy in the casket. Then the casket is driven on an electric cart to its burial site. If the animal is cremated, its owners can either take home an urn of ashes or bury them in a purchased plot.

A mausoleum, condemned now because of earthquake damage, still stands at the top of the property, showing signs of weather and time.