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On the occasion of All Saints’ Day, some went to pay homage to their pets in cemeteries dedicated to them. This is the case in Asnières, in the Hauts-de-Seine, where the oldest pet cemetery in the country is located.
At first glance, it appears to be a classic cemetery. But when we approach the graves and burials, we can see portraits of dogs and cats displayed; tributes paid by the owners to their pets in this cemetery located in Asnières (Hauts-de-Seine). Katia Serrar has been coming to this cemetery every week since the death of her dog, Fendy, who died at age 11. A moment always complicated for her. “This is the place where I feel the best, where I can express my pain“, testifies the young woman, moved.
Opened in 1899, the Asnières pet cemetery is the first of its kind to emerge in France. Dogs, cats, horses and chickens have been buried there for decades. It was a feminist journalist, Marguerite Durand, who notably bought the land in order to found the cemetery. “She felt sorry for the fate of pets at the time. Before, pets, we threw them either in the fortifications or in the Seine“, explains François-Xavier Chaix, archivist at the town hall of Asnières.