In 1881 a dog named Cherry was laid to rest on the outskirts of Hyde Park in London. This seemingly innocuous act spurred a revolution. Other pet owners would soon follow suit, adding graves alongside Cherry's, and the world's first urban pet cemetery was born. Dead pets had previously been consigned to garbage heaps, rending plants, or tossed in rivers, but no more, not after the pet owners of London stood fast in the face of often mocking public sentiment that an animal that had lived and been loved as a family deserves at the end a death with love and dignity. Their example would spread and is now found around the world in a fascinating and touching array of different traditions. Dr. Paul Koudounaris will discuss his new book on animal burials and memorials, Faithful Unto Death, sharing not just his insights into the history of animal burials, but stories that range from tear-jerker to outright bizarre.

All ticket holders will receive a discount code for Paul's book Faithful Unto Death. 

About our speaker

Dr. Paul Koudounaris is a PhD in Art History from UCLA. An author and photographer, his previous books include three on death (Empire of Death, Heavenly Bodies, and Memento Mori) and one on feline history (A Cat’s Tale, a Barnes and Noble book of the year in 2020). His new book combines his interest in funeral and animal history, and is the product of an exhaustive, ten year study of pet cemeteries and animal burial sites around the world.