From ‘Darling Dolly’ to Topper the ‘bohemian’ police dog: How the world’s first pet cemetery was installed in Hyde Park in the 1880s, and now there are hundreds across the world

Nestled in Hyde Park is a cemetery that has been full for more than a century.

It is filled with dearly departed loved ones who brought joy and comfort in life.

These were the cats, dogs and other pets of Londoners who wanted a permanent monument to their cherished companions. 

Now, a new book by historian Paul Koudounaris recounts the history of the world’s first urban pet cemetery, and that of hundreds of others that exist across the world.  

One grave stone in Hyde Park refers to ‘Darling Dolly’, whose owner said was: ‘My sunbeam. My consolation. My joy.’ Another pays tribute to Witt, ‘the best friend I ever had’. 

Topper, a police dog who had accompanied officers on patrols in Hyde Park, was also laid to rest in the small cemetery. 

But his burial proved controversial, with one furious writer opining in Strand Magazine that the mongrel, who they said was ‘insufferably vulgar’ and had ‘bohemian tastes’, was buried among purebred dogs. 

A view of some of the pet grave stones in Hyde Park. The pet cemetery there was the world’s first

Seen at the PDSA cemetery (left) in Ilford, east London, the grave of Peter the cat, who was Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. He passed away in 1964. Right: Another cat, Moggie, sits by the coffin of Peter before his burial on March 13, 1964

The grave of Topper, the police dog whose burial in Mr Winbridge’s garden in Hyde Park proved controversial

Mr Koudounaris, whose book Faithful Unto Death: Pet Cemeteries, Animal Graves & Eternal Devotion was published last month, told MailOnline that he was inspired to write his book after visiting a pet cemetery in Los Angeles.

The visit left him in tears. He said: ‘I have visited death sites everywhere, including genocide sites, and nothing had touched me the way that pet cemetery did. 

‘It was the first place that brought a tear to my eye.

‘I know how moving pet death can be. It’s like losing a piece of yourself that you will never get back. 

‘Because a pet really is an extension of us. A pet becomes a part of us. And when they die, you are losing a piece of yourself.

‘I was reminded not only of the pets I have lost, but how universal this loss is. It was a very moving experience. I started looking into this, and I found not much had been written about it.

‘It became this self-appointed task. It wasn’t always pleasant. There were so many days that the research left me in tears.’

The Hyde Park cemetery was inspired by the death of a Maltese dog called Cherry in 1881.

A moving tribute to an animal called Dolly on a grave stone in Hyde Park. It reads: ‘Darling Dolly. My Sunbeam. My Consolation. My Joy’

A grave stone in Hyde Park paying tribute to ‘My dear Moussoo’. The words on the stone read: ‘There are men both good and wise who say that dumb creatures we have cherished here below shall give us kindly greeting when we pass the golden gate’ 

The grave of an animal called ‘Witt’, whose owner said was the ‘best friend I ever had’. Witt, who died in June 1895, is among more than 1,000 animals buried at the pet cemetery in Hyde Park

The grave of an animal called Fudge, at Exbury Gardens in Southampton. The animal was ‘as dear and as sweet as his name’

A grave stone dedicated to an animal called ‘Chun’, at the pet cemetery in Molesworth, Huntingdon

A grave to an animal called ‘Snobby’, who was called ‘our faithful little friend’. Its remains lie at Molesworth in Huntingdon 

The grave of Rip, the terrier who helped locate more than 100 people buried alive under the rubble during the Blitz. He was the world’s first known rescue dog and was awarded the Dickin Medal in July 1945. He was buried at the PDSA cemetery in Ilford in October 1946. Right: With his handler, Mr King

Another grave at the PDSA pet cemetery in Ilford. The one is to a cat called ‘Mister Tibb’, who was a ‘darling treasure’. He ‘fell asleep’ at the age of 14 in October 1950

A tribute to the ‘strays and all ill-treated creatures’, at the PDSA Pet Cemetery in Ilford 

The grave of ‘mouse killer’ cat Kitty, at Grinkle Park Pet Cemetery in North Yorkshire

His owners had made friends with Hyde Park’s gatekeeper, Mr Winbridge, after successive visits with Cherry to the park. 

He agreed that Cherry could be buried in his garden, behind Hyde Park’s Victoria Gate. 

Over the years that followed, dozens of other animals were buried in the garden. 

Topper’s critic in Strand Magazine had also claimed that the dog ‘delighted in roaming about at night when all well-conducted dogs are in bed and asleep.’

By the time of Mr Winbridge’s death in 1899, his garden was the final resting place of more than 300 pets. 

Inspired by Hyde Park’s example, pet cemeteries sprang up elsewhere in Britain and across the world.

Among them was one in Molesworth, a village in Huntingdonshire, which was around an hour from London.

The first burial there was recoded on June 6, 1903, for a terrier named Freddie. 

Within a decade, the number of burials there had far surpassed the final figure in Hyde Park.

Paris boasted the Cimetiere des Chiens, whilst America had more than 600 by the 1920s.

There were also several in Berlin, but the Nazis banned them.

Britain’s most famous animal resting place is the PDSA’s Pet Cemetery in Ilford, London.

The grave of Minnie at Aspin Hill, Maryland. The 10-year-old feline, who died in 1937, is referred to on its gravestone as ‘only a cat’

The tribute in Linwood, New Jersey, to a couple’s ‘beloved pets’. The moving words read: ‘The loyalty of a dog may well put most men to shame, for few are as loyal to their heavenly master as is the humble dog to his earthly one’

A grave to a cat called Mimi at Paris’s Cimetière des Chiens 

Among the esteemed animals buried there is Peter, a former Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. 

He died in 1964 and was honoured by the presence of several mourners at his funeral. 

The animal was laid to rest in a miniature coffin. 

The Ilford cemetery is also the final resting place of Rip, the terrier who helped locate more than 100 people buried alive under the rubble during the Blitz. 

He was the world’s first known rescue dog. 

Mr Koudounaris added: ‘We need to look at Cherry’s burial in the same way we look at the foundings of the first humane societies. 

A grave to a dog called Roxi in Juarez, Mexico. The animal passed away in 2022

A grave to a ‘wild dog’ who was ‘hit by a car’ and ‘died alone’. The canine was ‘buried by one who cared’ in Winterhaven, California

The stunning pet cemetery in Bishop, California. Among the graves are tributes to animals called ‘Katy girl’, ‘Spicey’ and ‘Sugar’

A tribute to a cat called Benton in Angels’ Rest pet cemetery in Kanah, Utah

A makeshift gravestone paying tribute to a ‘missing’ called ‘Butt Head’ in Arizona

‘It was truly a revolutionary act. The idea of founding an urban pet cemetery in the world’s largest city in a public park, that is a revolutionary act.

‘It was creating this ideal, that an animal that has given love and been loved deserves a loving and respectful end.

‘It was quickly emulated across the rest of the world. To me, the fountain head is Cherry’s burial in 1881.

‘I travelled around the world and I found that ideal everywhere. Everywhere you would travel, the same idea. That fountain head is Cherry’s burial in 1881.’

Faithful Unto Death: Pet Cemeteries, Animal Graves & Eternal Devotion, by Paul Koudounaris, is published by Thames & Hudson. 

It is available now from the Mail Bookshop.