Keeping your pet's paw print in London, Ontario
A print has to be taken while your pet is still with you, or before cremation, so a little planning helps. Here's how to get a clear paw print in London, who can take it for you and what finishing it costs.
- Prints of senior pets while they're well
- Local finishing or mail-order makers
- Honest costs from real price lists
London, Ontario
Home, clinic or crematory: paw prints in London
The Thames River runs through the heart of London, and many families connect their pets' memory with Springbank Park and the riverside paths. Scattering near moving water works most gently from the bank on a calm day, and some families keep a small amount at home too. Check city park rules, and ask permission before using private land. Autumn, when the city's trees turn, is a popular time for a small ceremony.
London's reputation as the Forest City makes tree memorials a natural choice. A biodegradable urn under a young maple or oak, or a memorial shrub in the garden, fits a city known for its canopy. Renters can plant in a large pot and take the memorial with them. A winter loss simply means waiting to plant until the April thaw, with the ashes kept safe indoors.
If your pet is a senior with good days left, a routine vet visit in London can be a gentle moment to ask about a print. Some clinic teams will help take one there and then, with treats on hand. You can also do it at home after a long walk, when your dog is tired, or after a meal, when your cat is sleepy and relaxed.
London's population is around 422,000, the 6th-largest of the 15 Ontario communities we cover. Some of the providers who serve London are based about 72 miles away in Hamilton, the nearest larger centre, so collection times reflect that drive.
Our pages for Guelph (63 miles), Hamilton (72 miles) and Burlington (77 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers London as well.
81.1%[1]
CANA projects the Canadian cremation rate will reach 81.1% by 2030.
~$32[2]
Paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32, from $10 to $76.
3-5% of body weight[3]
Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight.
Burial, cremation and paw prints in Canada
When roughly 81.1%[1] of human funerals in Canada end in cremation, the whole system is built for speed, and pet aftercare often runs the same way. Collection can be booked for the same afternoon, and some crematories cremate within a day or two. That efficiency is a kindness, but it also shrinks the time in which a print can be taken. Ask how soon cremation will happen, and if it's quick, take the print yourself before collection.
CANA Industry Statistical Information (2030) is where the Canada figure comes from. It counts people; we use it because attitudes to cremating a pet in London tend to follow attitudes to cremation generally.
Getting a clean print in London in any season
Local weather in London affects a paw print more than you might think. In hot, dry spells, air-dry clay can crack if it dries too fast, so dry it slowly indoors and turn it often. In humid months it stays soft for longer, so be patient. In cold weather, warm the clay in your hands and never let plaster freeze before it has set.
Budgeting for a print and what it becomes
Small keepsakes cost more than their size suggests. One BC crematory lists a 1 oz heart keepsake urn at CA$106[4], and by our estimate a keepsake urn can cost about a third more than a full-size wooden urn from the same provider[5]. If you want something for each family member in London, copies of a paw print on card or in clay are a far cheaper way to share, and a clinic or crematory print is usually a modest add-on.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Ontario: Ontario costs. What each service includes is on the services page.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Landlords, parks and permits in Ontario
There are no rules about taking a paw print; it's yours to do at home, at the clinic or at the crematory. Where Ontario does have rules is what happens next: whether your pet can be buried at home and where ashes can be scattered. Those choices can affect your print too, for example if you want it set into a garden stone or a grave marker.
In Canada, paw prints are usually arranged through your vet or the pet crematory at the same time as cremation, and some small studios make ceramic keepsakes from them. Cold winters are the main practical hurdle: warm clay in your hands, keep plaster work indoors and don't post a print that isn't fully dry. In Quebec, ask for an empreinte de patte.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Ontario level first; our Ontario rules summary has the detail. Then check whether London or your HOA adds anything.
How to make sure a print is taken in time
- Choose one calm afternoon to print every pet in the house, starting with the most relaxed animal.
- Label everything before you start: write each name on the reverse of its card, or scratch an initial into the base of each clay disc.
- Use a separate ink pad or wipe for each animal and clean every paw straight away, so no one licks ink off anyone else.
- Keep each turn short, no more than a minute or two each, and reward every press with a treat.
- Make a combined piece if you like: all the paws on one big card or slab of clay becomes a whole-family portrait.
- Store the set together and date each one on the reverse, so that years from now none of them has gone astray.
Keeping the print and the memory close
Canada has a high cremation rate, and in London keeping ashes at home feels natural to many families. For a pet, that could be a carved wooden box, a glass keepsake, a paw print in clay, or a necklace holding a few ashes. Freeze-thaw cycles crack cheap outdoor markers, so if you choose one for the garden, granite or slate is worth the extra cost.
run the numbers with the free planning tools, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones, or compare your instinct with the poll results, See what each option includes on our services page. Close to London we also cover Mississauga, Ottawa, Toronto and Markham; the full list for Ontario and for Canada is a click away.
Reader polls
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Questions people ask
Will I have to travel to Hamilton to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Hamilton (roughly 72 miles from London) collect from here as a matter of routine, and the paperwork is done by email or phone. If you want to be present for a witnessed cremation, that is when the drive matters.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from London?
Usually yes. Guelph is about 63 miles away, Hamilton is about 72 miles away and Burlington is about 77 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Is cremation common in Canada?
For people, yes: about 81.1%[1] of Canada deaths end in cremation, according to CANA Industry Statistical Information (2030). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in London follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Will my vet or crematory take a paw print before cremation?
Most will if asked, and many include a clay or ink print in the package. But requests can be missed on a busy day, especially at emergency clinics. Mention it when you book, ask for it to be written on the aftercare form and ask whether it comes back to you that day or with the ashes. Once your pet has been cremated, the chance is gone.
How long before the print and ashes come back in London?
By our estimate, most pet crematories return ashes within about 3 to 14 days[7], and a print taken at intake usually travels with them. A print taken by your vet may come back sooner, handed to you on the day or posted separately. Ask providers in London which applies, and request a snapshot of the print if you'll be waiting a week or more; it's reassuring to know it came out clear.
Is a paw print included when a vet comes to our home in London?
Often, but not always. Many home-visit vets bring a clay kit and include one print in their fee; others charge for it or leave it to the crematory. Ask when you book, and check whether a flat ink copy is possible as well. Home goodbyes are no longer unusual: in the Dog Aging Project, 22.8% of dogs who were euthanized died at home[8]. You can also take your own print before the vet arrives.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] CANA projects the Canadian cremation rate will reach 81.1% by 2030. CANA Industry Statistical Information, 2030.
- [2] Paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32, from $10 to $76. Our estimate: median of [$10 clay (AGP), $15 laser engraving (AGP), $49 ink (Final Gift), $76 clay (Final Gift)]. How we calculate.
- [3] Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [4] A 1 oz heart keepsake urn costs CA$106 at Okanagan Pet Cremation, more than its full-size solid wood urn at CA$79. Okanagan Pet Cremation – Urns, 2026.
- [5] A 1 oz keepsake urn can cost about a third more than a full-size wooden urn at the same crematory. Our estimate: CA$106 heart keepsake / CA$79 solid wood urn. How we calculate.
- [6] Around 765,000 U.S. families a year are likely open to a personalized pet keepsake. Our estimate: 1.5M pet cremations x 51% interest in personalized memorials. How we calculate.
- [7] Published ashes-return times across the network's markets range from same-day (paid express) to about 4 weeks; a conservative typical window is 3-14 days. Our estimate: min/max across sources: Lambeth 3 days; US 5-10 days; RSPCA QLD within 14 days; AniCura Sweden 2-4 weeks. How we calculate.
- [8] Of euthanized dogs in the Dog Aging Project, 76.7% were euthanized at a veterinary clinic or hospital and 22.8% at the owner's home. Dog Aging Project End of Life Survey - Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (2026), via PubMed Central, 2026.
Ask who takes paw prints in London
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