A lasting stone for your pet in Holladay
By our estimate, about 11,500 households in Holladay have a dog or cat, and roughly 960 of those pets are lost each year. Many end up remembered with a stone in a garden bed; here's how to choose one that lasts.
- Engraving and proof steps explained
- Delivery weight and setting, planned ahead
- Quotes by email from makers who serve Holladay
Holladay, Utah
Stone makers, yards and delivery in Holladay
Utah's mix of dry summers and freezing winters is tough on garden objects. Natural stone and bronze last for decades, while painted concrete and plastic fade and crack within a few years. If you want something living, a perennial bed or a small ornamental tree can mark a place without looking like a grave, which some Holladay families prefer in a garden the grandchildren still play in.
Holladay's mature gardens lend themselves to outdoor memorials: a stepping stone engraved with a name, a small granite marker beneath a lilac, or a bench under a shade tree. Indoors, some families keep an urn beside family photos or choose a keepsake that can be worn. Mix and match; there is no rule that says one household needs a single memorial.
In a town the size of Holladay, there may be no monument company at all, and that's fine. Online makers ship small stones anywhere, and a larger center such as Salt Lake City usually has a monument company that will engrave a pet marker. Rural makers are sometimes the most flexible: many will cut a small marker from leftover granite if you ask directly.
About 31,162 people live in Holladay, which makes it the 37th-largest of the 52 Utah communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Salt Lake City, about 8 miles (13 km) away, which is where some providers serving Holladay are based.
The closest communities we cover are Millcreek (2 miles, a larger centre), Cottonwood Heights (3 miles) and Murray (3 miles). Providers serving those towns often travel to Holladay too, so it can be worth asking them for a quote.
Our estimate
11,500
How many dog- or cat-owning households Holladay has (estimate)
How we calculated this
31,162 ÷ 2.5 = 12,465 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 11,500. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
960
Estimated dog and cat losses in Holladay each year
How we calculated this
11,500 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 960 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.
If a number here surprises you, the primary material is American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science; we only apply it to this.
How Utah remembers its dead, and its pets
Family headstones matter in Utah; cremation there covers only about 46.1%[5] of human deaths, and some owners like a pet's stone to echo them. Ask a monument maker for the same granite color and a similar typeface as a grandparent's marker. On a much smaller scale it reads as part of the family, which is exactly how many people see their pet.
The Utah figure comes from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). It describes people, not pets, so read it as a sign of local attitudes rather than a pet statistic.
Choosing a stone that suits Holladay's seasons
Photo stones and sealed ashes compartments need extra care in a climate like Holladay's. Summer sun around 94°F can dry out sealants, and water that gets in then freezes in January, February and December. Check the seal each fall, ask the maker whether the stone is rated for freeze-thaw, and keep the ashes in a waterproof inner bag.
Repeated swings between January, February and December frost and July heat test anything glued to a stone. Photo plaques, bronze plates and ceramic inserts expand at different rates from granite, and a bond that holds for two years can let go in the third. Ask whether parts are pinned mechanically as well as glued, and whether the maker will re-fix them if they loosen.
How much to budget for a pet stone
Where the stone goes changes the total more than the stone itself. A stone in your own yard costs only what you pay the maker and the carrier. At a pet cemetery, you may also pay for the plot, a marker-setting fee (one Washington cemetery district charges $130[6]) and upkeep. The table below shows typical stone prices before any of those extras.
Prices for Holladay track the wider Utah market, so use the Utah price table as your baseline and the services page to see what is included.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Rules to check before placing a stone in Utah
Rented homes, condos and strata properties need a different plan. You usually can't bury a pet in shared grounds, and anything fixed in place may have to be removed when you leave. A stone with a sealed ashes compartment, or a heavy engraved rock on a patio, gives you a memorial without breaking the lease. Here's the local picture for Utah.
Utah keeps an official directory of local governments; use it to reach the county or city office that covers Holladay.
Start with the Utah rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Holladay's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
Ordering a pet memorial stone, step by step
- Let your child help choose the spot. Somewhere they can reach alone, or see from a bedroom window, often matters more to them than to adults.
- Start with a stone they decorate themselves. Outdoor paint pens on a smooth river rock give small hands something to do in the first raw days.
- Ask them for one word or line to include. Children's phrases are often the ones a family treasures most years later.
- Show them the proof before you approve it, and give them the job of reading the pet's name aloud one letter at a time.
- Keep the homemade stone beside the engraved one, or bring it indoors to a shelf once the permanent marker is set.
- Give each child a job on the day: carrying the stone, placing pebbles around it or watering a new plant. More ideas are in our guides.
More ways to remember your pet in Holladay
Families in Holladay often have grown children living elsewhere in the valley or out of state. Asking the cremation provider for divided remains lets everyone keep a share: a main urn for the family home and smaller keepsakes, like pendants or miniature urns, for siblings or grandparents. Mention it early so the provider can plan the return, and decide together who keeps the main vessel.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, try the free planning tools, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles. More local pages: Salt Lake City, Provo, Lehi and St. George, the Utah overview and every city in the United States.
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.
Which stone would you choose for your pet's marker?
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Where would your pet's stone go?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Memorial stone planner
Plan size, material and engraving length so your wording fits the stone.
Memorial tree finder
Pick a tree for a planting urn that suits your climate, space and pet.
Questions people ask
Which nearby towns can I compare with Holladay?
The closest communities we cover are Millcreek (about 2 miles), Cottonwood Heights (about 3 miles) and Murray (about 3 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Holladay too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Holladay?
January, February and December: average lows are below freezing then, and frozen ground makes a home grave slow or impossible until it thaws. The other pressure point is July, when highs around 94°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Is cremation common in Utah?
For people, yes: about 46.1%[5] of Utah deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Holladay follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Will I have to travel to Salt Lake City to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Salt Lake City (roughly 8 miles from Holladay) 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.
Will a memorial stone fade in the Holladay sun?
Natural stone with carved lettering won't fade in any meaningful way. What fades is resin, printed designs and the paint inside letters, which may need touching up every few years in strong sun. Photo etching on black granite doesn't fade either, but it can be hard to read in harsh midday glare, so give it a little afternoon shade.
How long does it take to make a pet memorial stone?
It depends on the maker and the stone. One US maker of engraved natural stones says they arrive in ~1 week[8]; made-to-order granite and bronze pet markers take 2–4 weeks[9]; and a new full-size headstone from a monument company can take 6–12 weeks[10]. Photo stones add time for proof approval.
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 Utah's cremation rate at 46.1% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Rainier Cemetery District's pet section sells plots for $150 (small) and $200 (large), including the first burial; a marker-setting fee is $130. Rainier Cemetery District – The Companion Corner, 2026.
- [7] Engraved pet garden stones start at about $39 at the median of three US sellers. Our estimate: median of starting prices [$38 Adirondack, $38.95 Memorials.com, $89.99 Comfort Co.]. How we calculate.
- [8] Adirondack Stone Works says engraved pet stones arrive in about a week from ordering. Adirondack Stone Works Pet Memorials, 2026.
- [9] Made-to-order granite and bronze pet markers take 2–4 weeks to produce; garden and cultured stones ship in 3–5 business days. Memorials.com – Pet Memorial Stones, 2026.
- [10] New headstones take 6–12 weeks to make; adding dates to an existing stone takes 1–4 weeks once scheduled. Memorials.com – Headstone Engraving Cost, 2026.
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