By our estimate from UK and US surveys, bereaved owners split ~2/3 cremation; ~30% burial[1]. Those surveys don't tell you what people carve on the stone afterwards. Our readers' answers fill in some of that picture.
Method
Every figure on the board below is a live running total of votes from visitors to this site. Voting is anonymous: we don't collect names or emails, and each person gets one vote per question. Percentages are rounded, so a poll can add up to 99 or 101.
This isn't a scientific survey. The people voting chose to visit a site about memorial stones, and polls with only a few dozen votes can shift noticeably overnight. Read them as a conversation with other owners, and if you haven't voted yet, the questions are all on the polls page.
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Context from research
A stone usually follows a burial or a decision to keep ashes outdoors, so the research on burial is the natural benchmark. In the US, when owners were asked what they'd prefer for a future pet, home burial came close behind cremation. In the UK, competition regulators found a similar pattern among owners whose pet had actually died. The UK figures come from the competition regulator's provisional findings on vet services, if you'd like to read the survey itself.
40.4% cremation; 34.9% home burial; 1.9% aquamation[2]
Asked their preferred future after-death care, 40.4% of US owners chose traditional flame cremation and 34.9% home burial; 10.7% chose cemetery burial and 1.9% alkaline hydrolysis (aquamation).
27% home burial; 2% burial elsewhere[3]
In the same CMA survey, 27% of UK owners buried their pet at home and 2% used a pet burial company elsewhere.
If our placement poll shows many readers putting a stone over a backyard grave, that fits the research. If it shows lots of stones marking scattered ashes or sitting on patios, it may reflect people who rent, move often or live where home burial isn't allowed. Our post on planning a garden marker before ordering covers each of those situations. Rules on home burial differ by place, which your local page covers.
Where would your pet's stone go?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Money
The spending poll asks what feels right, not what people actually paid. Compare it with typical prices: engraved garden stones start at about $39 at the median of three US sellers[4], flat granite markers at $157.95 at one large retailer[5], and upright granite headstones at the same retailer cost $257.95 to $627.95[6]. Many families also pay for burial itself, and US pet cemetery burial for a dog averages $831[7].
If the answer you'd give is lower than the stone you want, it's worth knowing where the money goes: thickness, granite colour, photo etching and freight are the big variables. The memorial budget planner lets you set your own low and high figures for each part.
What feels like the right amount to spend on a garden stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Personal touches
Two polls, on photos and on wording, get at how personal people want a stone to be. Market research suggests many owners care a great deal: one report found 56%[8] of pet owners choose memorial services of some kind. Our polls add detail about which personal touches people choose once they've decided to have a stone.
If the photo poll leaves you undecided, the practical question is usually the picture itself. A sharp daylight shot with your pet facing the camera etches well; a dim or blurry one rarely does. The stone types page explains photo etching alongside the other options.
Ashes and upkeep
The ashes poll separates stones that mark a burial from stones that hold or accompany ashes. If you notice many readers choosing a sealed compartment, it's likely because that option solves two problems at once: the ashes stay dry, and the memorial can travel if the family moves. Ashes typically weigh around 3-5% of body weight[9], so the compartment size is the detail to confirm before ordering.
Will your pet's ashes be with the stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
The care poll is gentler. It asks how often you'd tend the stone, from weekly visits to letting moss take its course. Neither extreme is wrong. Granite needs little more than water and a soft brush now and then, while painted lettering and resin need more attention to stay readable. If the results make you realise you'd rather not maintain anything, that's a good reason to favour deep-cut granite over a painted rock. Our cold-weather memorial notes cover the seasonal jobs worth doing.
Takeaways
Use the totals to check you haven't missed an option, not to overrule your instinct. The moving-house and ashes polls in particular tend to prompt a useful "oh, I hadn't thought of that". If a stone that can come with you matters, a sealed ashes stone or a bench with a replaceable plaque might suit; see planning a memorial bench.
Grief doesn't follow a poll either. 40%[10] of owners in one report said their grief after a pet's death equalled or exceeded grief after a human loss. However you choose to mark the place, it's a reasonable response to a real loss. The RSPCA's pet bereavement survey points the same way: almost every respondent saw their pet as family.
If you moved house, what would happen to the memorial?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Reader polls
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.
What feels like the right amount to spend on a garden stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How often would you clean or tend your pet's stone?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How much would you spend on a memorial item, beyond the cremation itself?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Continuously. Each vote is added to the totals as it arrives, so the board you see is the current tally. Refresh the page later and the numbers may have moved, especially on newer polls with fewer votes.
Each poll shows its own vote count on the results board. Counts differ between questions because people only answer the ones that apply to them, and some polls have been running longer than others. Low counts mean the percentages are more likely to change.
Our voters aren't a random sample. They're people interested enough in memorial stones to visit this site, so they're more likely than the average owner to want a marker, add personal wording or spend more. Published surveys, like the regulator figures quoted here, use structured samples.
Yes, the full board is on this page. We'd still encourage you to vote first on the polls page, since seeing the totals can nudge your answer. Your honest first reaction is the most useful thing you can add.
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.
