Undas 2024: Filipinos also remember their departed pets

Metro Manila, Philippines — As many Filipinos marked the Undas season with visits to cemeteries where their loved ones have been buried, some also went out to remember their departed pets.

Among them was Lian Aristoteles, 18, whose dog Miaka crossed the "rainbow bridge" in September this year.

Miaka was buried at the pet memorial garden in Brgy. Fortune in Marikina. The dog was just among the over 4,000 departed pets that have been laid to rest there since 2019.

"In here, na-express namin 'yong pagmamahal namin sa kanya bilang pag-alala na alaga namin siya before," Aristoteles told NewsWatch Plus on Friday, Nov. 1. "Dun sa pagdalaw namin mas mabibigyan namin siya ng buhay."

[Translation: In here, we express the love and remembrance of our pet. With our visit, we keep our pet alive.]

Aristoteles said Miaka was almost 15 years old, which means she was taking care of her pet for almost her entire life.

"Dalawa kami ng ate ko na nagtutulong na paliguan sila (dogs). We have three dogs in our house tulong tulong kami na isa isa na paliliguan namin," she reminisced.

[Translation: My sister and I help each other to bathe our dogs. We have three dogs in our house.]

According to Ruby Prago, the memorial garden's caretaker, the 4,000 animals that have a final resting place in their garden are dogs, cats, birds, even pet snakes. Pet lovers come from Marikina, Mandaluyong, Quiapo, Novaliches, Caloocan, and Bulacan, among other areas.

The memorial garden is relatively small to imagine so many being buried there. The area is already crowded with gravestones, and the old ones have been "retouched" to be another pet's marker.

"Dito po kasi, hindi lifetime ang hayop na nalibing — one year lang ang ilagay," Prago told NewsWatch Plus. "Sa one year na 'yon bulok na sila, one year papalitan...ang lapida kasama yan sa pagtanggal"

[Translation: The animal is not buried here for a lifetime. It's only for a year and they already decay. After a year, we dig on that spot to bury another and we remove the gravestone.]

Prago said those who buried their pets understand the policy. She said they can still light candles on their spots even if it's already a different gravestone.

That's what Aristoteles did for her two kittens, who died in 2022.

"Na-experience ko naman na dalawin sila, maranasan na may lapida akong nakikita kung saan nakaburol sila. At para sa ibang maglalagay pa is space din po sa kanila," she said.

Prago said some 14 pets were put to rest on the morning of Nov. 1.

"Sa dami ng nae-encounter ko na dito naglilbing, talaga pong halos kapamilya na nila ituring ang kanilang mga alaga," Prago told NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: I have encountered many burials and they really treat their pet like a family member.]

"Parang tao din po nila kung paano dalawin. Hindi lang Undas. 'Yong iba kung may bakante silang oras sumasaglit 'yong iba dito," she said.

[Translation: They visit them here like they would a loved one, and not only during Undas. Others who have time to spare, they come here too.]