Kiki, Ulysse and Cochonette

Judging from the tomb stones in the animal cimetary in Asnières-sur-Seine the favourite pets of the French would be a poodle called Kiki, a boxer called Ulysse and a cocker spaniel called Cochonette ("piggy" in English).

In 1898 a law was passed to allow domestic animals to be buried, and the following year Georges Harmois and Marguerite Durand took the initiative to purchase half of what was then an island in the Seine to create the Dog Cimetary in Asnières-sur-Seine, the first animal cimetary in the world. link

I was alone in this peculiar place with a couple of cats on a sunny spring Saturday and took my time to wander around between the tombs. As can be expected there were kitch moments and there touching moments.  Lots of plastic flowers and china angels, but also expressions of true grief. There were photos on many of the stones: canaries, rabbits, German shepherds, horses, cats, beagles, more cats and more dogs. The words "we will never forget you" were repeated again and again, and perhaps this is what the animal cimetary is about; to manifest in an everlasting way the loss of a cherished animal.

The above stone raised by Linda Valla Woodworth has a little story to it. Linda married the rich American businessman and head of a perfumery manufacturing firm Chauncey Clark Woodworth on 15 March 1925 and divorced him on 8 February 1930. When Brother Bill died in July 1930 Linda was celebrating a divorce whereby she was getting a monthly alimony of USD1,750 (equivalent to about USD24,000 in current dollars!). In 1937 Chauncey Clark Woodworth died at the age of 53 from a pneumonia, and in 1938 his first wife and the children they had together were trying to get the alimony reduced as the estate of the late Chauncey Clark Woodworth had considerably diminished (link). What can one deduce from this? Brother Bill was born shortly after the couple married and was probably their "baby", but when the couple divorced Linda got the dog. It is amazing what you can find out via the Internet..... All this just because of an inscription on a tomb at the animal cimetary in Asnières-sur-Seine.

Perhaps I am writing about Brother Bill to hide the fact that I felt rather emotional when I walked among the tombs. Not because of the stories that the stones evidenced, but because of my own dog reaching the end of his life. My dog, however, will not end up at the animal cimetary, and the day he dies, he will be gone without leaving anything but an old tennis ball and a lot of memories.