For four decades, the owners of beloved pets living in the area of the Spanish capital have had a place where they can pay tribute to their loyal companions after they died.
The only pet cemetery near Madrid is called El Último Parque, or Last Park in English, and since July 1983 it has offered a last resting place to dogs and cats, as well as less conventional pets including lizards, a python and a wild boar.
Collecting the remains of more than 8,500 animals distributed across some 4,500 graves, the Last Park is believed to be the largest pet cemetery in the world.
This special cemetery is located in Arganda del Rey, a municipality part of the Community of Madrid counting around 54,000 residents.
The Last Park was created by Jesús Díaz Franco after he was faced with the death of his own dog, named King – dubbed Quino.
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Mr Franco resorted to founding the cemetery after he was left horrified by the undignified treatment reserved for the bodies left at the veterinary clinic where Quino had died.
The remains of the pets, he told local news outlet Actual Arganda, were thrown like a bag of rubbish into a lorry with other organic remains such as farm pigs.
On the other hand, he thought his three-hectare estate in the Dehesa del Carrascal could become the ideal place for him and other grieving pet owners to honour their animals.
Despite Mr Franco not publicising the opening of the cemetery, the idea of having an appropriate place to honour their beloved pets was appealing to many and, within years, the Last Park was filled with tributes.
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The cemetery is dotted with tombs and memorials which read heartbreaking messages. Among them, a touching tribute read: “Leti, you have dedicated your whole life to us, we dedicate all our thoughts to you. Our little girl, we will not forget you”.
Another, left by a doting owner for a pet named Ricky, read: “Ricky, the most loyal friend we have ever loved and will never forget”.
Another grave is dedicated to Shalima, a “little monkey” that died in May 1994. The tombstone reads: “The best, your mum won’t forget you”.
Burying a loved pet at the Last Park costs between £112 and £4,343, depending on the burial that wants to be given to the animal, to which must be added an annual maintenance fee amounting to some £62.
The type of burial ranges from a small grave with a plastered surface decorated with stones to tombstones made of Italian marble that can accommodate six medium-sized animals.
Much like cemeteries reserved for humans, the Last Park is filled with a range of decorations as well as fresh flowers and cards.
Two pet owners, Fabiola and Julio, take care of several tombs, not just those of their late pets, TeleMadrid reported.
They said: “We go to the cemetery of humans and we recycle the flowers that people throw away, my wife cleans them and we put them back here to give them a new use for our little animals”.
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