How we say goodbye to our pets and why it matters

[Catherine]

Those of us who have had close bonds with pets understand this. We need to say goodbye and we need to do it in a way that works for us.
Luna-Belle was from the north, the  Yellowknife area. Her family moved south before she died. Her human companion returned her ashes to the north and scattered them along a trail she loved. He brought her home to the land she loved. He did it for her and he did it for himself.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/lun...-1.6311220

When we are bonded with a pet we need to say goodbye in a meaningful way. We owe it to the pet and we owe it to ourselves.
I have stood along a river bank with a friend and helped him bury more than one dog over the years. We buried one dog near her mother. We knew where she was and now the two are together. I held Daisy in my arms while they dug the hole. 

When my childhood cat died, I was leaving the area. I couldn't take him so he is in a place in the foothills of the Rockies that I dearly love. I put him somewhere that my heart will always be drawn to.  The loss was hard, but I am at peace with leaving him there.

We need to say goodbye and honor our pets somehow so we can grieve and have peace. It is not so much closure as completion. There is a subtle difference.
We are not ending things we are fulfilling them.