A paw print to keep, in Lauderhill
About 2,300 households in Lauderhill lose a dog or cat each year, by our estimate. A clear paw print, taken at home or by your vet, is often the keepsake people are most glad to have.
- Prints of senior pets while they're well
- Local finishing or mail-order makers
- Honest costs from real price lists
Lauderhill, Florida
Getting a paw print in Lauderhill: the local picture
Condo and apartment living in Lauderhill leaves little room for large pieces, so families lean toward things that sit on a dresser or can be worn: a carved wooden box, a picture frame with a sealed pocket behind the photo, or a pendant with a speck of ash inside. Families who plan to share the remains can have them divided before they come home.
Some Lauderhill families plant something to remember a pet in a patio pot or a small garden bed: a croton, a hibiscus or a young mango set over a plant-fiber urn that breaks down in the soil. Others choose a small engraved stone for the doorstep, where visitors see the name each time they arrive. Before buying, get the price, size and delivery date confirmed by the seller.
Farm and country homes around Lauderhill often have animals that city guides forget. A horse's hoof print is best taken after the farrier has trimmed and cleaned the foot, pressed into a thick clay slab or painted onto heavy card. Keep the last shoe as well. For chickens, ducks or a pet parrot, very soft clay shows the delicate toes far better than ink.
With roughly 75,668 residents, Lauderhill is the 41st-largest of the 235 Florida communities we cover. The nearest larger centre is Hialeah, about 21 miles (34 km) away, which is where some providers serving Lauderhill are based.
Our pages for Lauderdale Lakes (2 miles), Sunrise (2 miles) and Plantation (3 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Lauderhill as well.
Our estimate
28,000
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Lauderhill
How we calculated this
75,668 ÷ 2.5 = 30,267 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 28,000. Homes are counted once however many pets they keep.
Our estimate
2,300
Lauderhill families who lose a dog or cat each year (estimate)
How we calculated this
28,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 2,300 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry.
Local customs and the keepsake you keep
Because Florida cremates about 72.5%[5] of the people who die there, many families have no grave to visit, for people or for pets. Something has to take the place of a headstone, and a print does that job surprisingly well. It's physical, it's unmistakably your animal, and it can hang by the front door or sit on a desk. If you plan to scatter the ashes, the print may be the only memorial you keep.
Source for the Florida number: NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes a pet cremation rate for Lauderhill, so the human figure is the best local signal available.
Getting a clean print in Lauderhill in any season
If you're planning a home goodbye in May, June, July, August, September and October, consider booking the vet for early morning. Your pet will be more comfortable before the heat builds, the house is cooler for taking a print, and collection can happen before the afternoon peak. Take the print first, while the morning is still quiet. If you'd hoped to say goodbye outside, a shaded corner of the yard at dawn is kinder than the afternoon sun.
If your pet dies at home during May, June, July, August, September and October, keeping them cool comes first and the print second. Move them to the coolest room, lay them on a towel over a hard floor and take the print within the first few hours, before the body stiffens. If collection is coming soon, ask the team to wait while you finish, or ask the crematory to take the print at intake.
Budgeting for a print and what it becomes
By our estimate, around 765,000 US families a year[6] are open to a personalized pet keepsake, so providers in Lauderhill are used to the question. The cheapest route is a home print, which costs only clay and a card. The next step up is a crematory add-on: by our estimate the median is about $32[7], and a clay paw impression can cost as little as $10[8]. Framing, engraving and silver are where totals climb.
For a line-by-line price table, see the Florida overview; for what's included in each option, see our services.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Local rules worth knowing in Florida
There are no rules about taking a paw print; it's yours to do at home, at the clinic or at the crematory. Where Florida 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.
The official Florida local government directory lists every county and city office, which is the quickest way to find who to ask in Lauderhill.
Home burial and scattering are governed at the Florida level first; our Florida rules summary has the detail. Then check whether Lauderhill or your HOA adds anything.
Getting a paw print in Lauderhill, step by step
- Choose one calm afternoon and do all the pets together, beginning with whichever one is least bothered by handling.
- Label everything before you start: a name on the back of each card, or a letter scratched into the underside 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, a couple of minutes per pet, with a treat after every press.
- 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 with the date written on the back, so no print goes missing over the years.
From paw print to pendant, frame or garden stone
Lauderhill's cricket ground at Central Broward Park is one of the few international cricket venues in the United States, a sign of how strong island ties are here. Some families let memorials echo home and heritage: an urn in bright island colors, a photo of the pet in the yard, or a small keepsake mailed to relatives in Jamaica or elsewhere in the Caribbean. Allow extra weeks if a piece is shipping abroad.
or see how other readers answered in our polls, use the free tools before you ring anyone, Every option Lauderhill families choose between is on the services page, browse in-depth guides or recent articles. You can also browse every city in the United States. Nearby, we also cover St. Petersburg, Port St. Lucie, Miami and Orlando, and every city in Florida.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
When did (or will) you take your pet's print?
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Whose print are you thinking about?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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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
When is the hardest time of year to arrange a burial in Lauderhill?
There is no frozen-ground season here; average lows stay above freezing all year. The other pressure point is August, when highs around 91°F mean a body needs cooling and collecting quickly.
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Lauderhill?
Usually yes. Lauderdale Lakes is about 2 miles away, Sunrise is about 2 miles away and Plantation is about 3 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
Roughly how many pets die in Lauderhill each year?
Our estimate is around 2,300. It comes from Lauderhill's population (about 75,668), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 28,000 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Will I have to travel to Hialeah to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Hialeah (roughly 21 miles from Lauderhill) 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.
How do I get my pet's paw print in Lauderhill?
You have three options. Take it yourself at home with clay or an ink kit, ideally while your pet is still well. Ask your vet or in-home euthanasia vet to take one at the appointment. Or ask the pet crematory to take one at intake, before cremation. Whichever you choose, ask for it in advance and check the print is clear before your pet leaves.
Why take a paw print in Lauderhill if I already have plenty of photos?
Photos show what your pet looked like; a print records something you touched every day, at actual size. We estimate Lauderhill has around 28,000 dog- or cat-owning homes and loses about 2,300 of those pets a year. Most of those owners have hundreds of photos. The difference is that photos can be found later, while a print only exists if someone makes it before the body is cremated or buried, which is why it's worth doing first.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Florida's cremation rate at 72.5% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [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] 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.
- [8] Memorial add-ons at A Greener Place: $15 laser-engraved paw print, $10 clay paw impression, $10 nose print, $5 fur clipping. A Greener Place Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
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