How other owners are choosing their pets' memorial stones
Nearly all owners, 97%[1] in one global report, see their pets as family. These short polls ask how that plays out in stone: what you'd carve, where you'd put it and what you'd do if you moved.
- One tap to vote, completely anonymous
- Live results you can compare with your own choice
- Questions written by people who've been there
Why we ask
Why we run polls about memorial stones
Choosing a stone is a surprisingly lonely decision. There's no funeral director walking you through it and few friends have done it recently. Seeing how other people answered the same questions, whether to add a photo, how much to spend, what to do about a future move, can make your own choice feel less like guesswork.
Every poll here is anonymous and takes one tap. Browse them below, vote in any that apply, and see the running totals straight away. The full board lives on our live results page.
Browse every poll
How owners choose, word, place and look after an outdoor stone for a pet.
Which stone would you choose for your pet's marker?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Where would your pet's stone go?
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What would you engrave besides your pet's name?
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Would you want your pet's photo etched into the stone?
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Will your pet's ashes be with the stone?
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If you moved house, what would happen to the memorial?
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What feels like the right amount to spend on a garden stone?
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How often would you clean or tend your pet's stone?
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Reading the numbers
How to read reader polls without over-reading them
These polls tell you what people who visit this site think. That's useful, but it isn't a scientific survey. Visitors here are already thinking about stones, so they're likelier than average to want a marker at all, and a question with few votes can swing a lot in a day.
Where published research exists, we put it next to the poll so you can compare. For instance, a large US survey of dog and cat owners found burial was part of past decisions for about a third of them. That's the kind of benchmark worth holding the poll results up against. Put the UK and US surveys together and, by our reading, about two in three bereaved owners choose cremation and roughly 30% choose burial[2].
68% cremation; 32% burial[3]
What the questions reveal
The material question is really about weather and meaning
We ask which stone you'd choose because the answer usually reveals a trade-off. Granite is the durable choice, but a rock picked up on a favourite hike, or one already sitting in the garden, carries a meaning no catalog stone can match. If you're torn, our guide to stone grade and engraving depth explains how to get a personal rock engraved so it lasts.
Which stone would you choose for your pet's marker?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Wording
What people carve besides a name
The wording poll is one of the most personal we run. Some families want only a name, others a nickname nobody outside the house would understand. Whatever you choose, the length decides the letter size; try it in the memorial stone planner before you commit.
What would you engrave besides your pet's name?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Personalisation clearly matters to many owners. One market report put interest in personalised memorials, and the share who consider memorialisation significant, at 51% / 70%[4]. The polls let you see what personal looks like in practice.
Ashes and stones
Under the stone, inside it or somewhere else entirely
The ashes poll exists because a stone and a set of ashes don't always end up in the same place. Some families bury the ashes and set the stone on top; others choose a stone with a sealed cavity so the ashes stay dry and portable. Plenty keep the ashes indoors and use the garden stone to mark a spot their pet loved, which is just as meaningful.
Each answer leads to a slightly different stone. Burying ashes under a marker needs nothing special beyond a good gravel bed. Placing them inside a stone means checking the compartment's volume first; our urn size calculator gives you the figure to compare. And if a pet was buried whole, the stone's job is mostly to stay level and readable over a settling grave.
Will your pet's ashes be with the stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Whichever you'd choose, there's no wrong answer here. The poll simply shows how varied the choices are, which is reassuring if your plan doesn't match the catalog photos.
Thinking ahead
The questions people wish they'd asked earlier
Two polls deal with the future: what you'd do with the stone if you moved house, and how often you'd tend it. Nobody likes to think about leaving a pet's grave behind, yet it's common enough that the answer should shape how the stone is set. Burial isn't rare: in the UK, regulators found 27% home burial; 2% burial elsewhere[5] among owners whose pet had died. That figure comes from the UK competition regulator's provisional findings on vet services. Our post on moving house with a pet grave covers the options, and your local page notes local burial rules.
If there are children in the family, the care poll is a good conversation starter. Our post on garden memorials children can visit has ideas for giving them a small job, like brushing leaves off the stone each autumn. The RSPCA's pet bereavement survey found most parents wanted better guidance on helping children through pet loss.
How often would you clean or tend your pet's stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Using what you learn
Turning poll answers into your own decision
Use the results to widen your thinking, not to follow the crowd. If most voters would add a photo and you wouldn't, that's fine; the point is that you've considered it. Interest in natural and lower-impact options is high in general, too: 68%[6] of US consumers in one funeral survey were interested in green burial, which may push you toward a local rock rather than imported granite.
When you're ready, compare the stone types and prices or read how we work before sending a request.
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?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Would you want your pet's photo etched into the stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Will your pet's ashes be with the stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Are the memorial stone polls anonymous?
Yes. We don't ask for your name or email to vote, and results are shown only as totals. A simple browser check stops the same device voting twice on one poll, but nothing ties your vote to you.
Can I change my vote after I've answered?
Your vote is recorded as soon as you tap an answer. If you picked the wrong option by mistake, it won't meaningfully affect the totals, and you're welcome to share your real view with us through the contact form instead.
Do you publish poll results as research?
No. We describe them as reader opinions and show them live, because they change as people vote. When we state a fact on this site, it comes from a named study, regulator or survey, and the poll results sit alongside those facts rather than replacing them.
Can I suggest a question for a future poll?
Please do. Send it through our contact form with a line on why it matters to you. Good questions are ones where reasonable people genuinely choose differently, like whether to add a photo or where to place the stone.
Why do you ask so many questions about practical details?
Because the practical details are where memorial stones go wrong. Wording that won't fit, a stone that can't be moved, a photo that etches poorly: these are the regrets people mention. Asking about them in a poll gets you thinking before you order, when changes still cost nothing.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] Mordor Intelligence reports that 97% of owners globally regard pets as family members. Mordor Intelligence — Pet Funeral Services Market report page, 2025.
- [2] UK and US survey evidence converges on roughly two-thirds of bereaved owners choosing cremation (UK 67%; US 68% ever) and about 29-32% choosing burial. Our estimate: mean(67, 68) = 67.5; burial range 29% (UK) to 32% (US). How we calculate.
- [3] In a US survey of 2,043 dog and cat owners who had made end-of-life decisions, 68% had made a cremation decision and 32% a burial decision for at least one past pet. Cooney, Kogan, Brooks, Ellis - Pet Owners' Expectations for Pet End-of-Life Support and After-Death Body Care, Topics in Companion Animal Medicine (2020), 2020.
- [4] Astute Analytica reports 51% of pet owners are interested in personalized memorials and 70% consider memorialization significant. Astute Analytica via GlobeNewswire — Global Pet Preservation Services Market to Hit USD 112.7 Million by 2032 (Apr 2, 2024), 2024.
- [5] In the same CMA survey, 27% of UK owners buried their pet at home and 2% used a pet burial company elsewhere. UK Competition and Markets Authority - Veterinary services for household pets, Provisional decision report Part A (Oct 2025), 2025.
- [6] 68% of respondents to NFDA's 2024 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey expressed interest in green funeral or natural burial options. NFDA — Green Burial Resources for Funeral Professionals, 2024.
Ready to plan your own stone?
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.