Paw and nose prints in Miami Beach: a calm guide
Miami Beach has an estimated 30,000 dog- or cat-owning households. If yours is one of them, a print taken now, or before cremation, is the keepsake you can't go back for.
- Take the print before cremation
- Clay, ink or cast, explained simply
- Published prices, no guesswork
Miami Beach, Florida
Getting a paw print in Miami Beach: the local picture
Miami Beach is known for its art and design culture, and some families here choose memorials that feel like art: hand-blown glass with ashes worked into it, a commissioned portrait, or a sculpted ceramic vessel. Artisan pieces often take weeks and sometimes months. Before ordering, find out the timeline, the full cost including shipping, and how much ash the artist needs to work with.
The ocean is central to Miami Beach, and some families choose to scatter ashes at sea from a boat, well offshore. A water-soluble urn dissolves gently. Scattering straight onto the public sand may break local rules, so ask the city before you try it. A shell or a small jar of sand from the stretch of beach you shared can be kept at home as a quiet reminder.
One advantage of a town like Miami Beach is that people know each other. Your vet team has probably met your pet many times and will understand why a print matters. Small practices often keep a clay kit on the shelf for exactly this. If they don't, ask whether you can bring your own and take the print together in a quiet room.
Miami Beach's population is around 81,594, the 38th-largest of the 235 Florida communities we cover. Miami, roughly 4 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Miami Beach run from there.
Miami Beach sits within easy reach of Miami (4 miles, a larger centre), North Miami (6 miles) and North Miami Beach (8 miles). A provider based in any of them will usually collect from Miami Beach; ask what the mileage adds to the bill.
Our estimate
30,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households Miami Beach has (estimate)
How we calculated this
81,594 ÷ 2.5 = 32,638 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 30,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
2,500
dog and cat deaths per year in Miami Beach, our estimate
How we calculated this
30,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 2,500 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
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.
We built the this numbers from Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science and American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, and both are worth a look if you want the detail.
Local customs and the keepsake you keep
Cremation is the norm for people in Florida (about 72.5%[5] of deaths), and pet crematories there tend to offer a long menu of extras: paw prints, nose prints, fur clippings, name plates, photo urns. It's easy to feel you ought to say yes to everything. You don't have to. Pick the one or two things you'll actually look at in five years' time. For many families, that's a clear print and a small lock of fur.
The Florida percentage above is from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024) and refers to human funerals. Treat it as context for Miami Beach, not as a count of pets.
Getting a clean print in Miami Beach in any season
Around August, when highs in Miami Beach run near 91°F, a senior pet may be flat and uncomfortable in the afternoons. That's often a good time for a print, oddly enough: a hot, sleepy dog or cat lies still. Choose a cool room, keep sessions short, offer water and stop if your pet gets restless. You can always try again the next evening.
Hot months in Miami Beach are the best time for an outdoor project in the shade, but not for drying a print outdoors. Direct sun on an air-dry clay disc can warp it and crack the thin edges of the toes. Bring it inside, set it on a wire rack so air reaches both sides and give it two or three days before sealing it with a matte acrylic sealer.
What paw print keepsakes cost in Miami Beach
If you'd like the print framed with a lock of fur, one Northeast crematory network charges $133 for that combination and $23 for a fur clipping on its own[6]. Some water cremation providers bundle a print in too: an Arizona aquamation service includes an ink paw print in individual packages from $75 to $349[7]. In Miami Beach, it's worth asking every provider what comes with the package before adding extras.
Rather than repeat the price table on every city page, we keep one for Florida: Florida 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.
Rules in Florida that touch on keepsakes
Paw prints sit outside most regulation, but the aftercare around them doesn't. Your local council or city, and the wider rules for Florida, may limit burying a pet at home and scattering ashes in public places. Check the notes below before you plan a garden memorial with your pet's print pressed into it.
To find your county or city office in Florida, start with the official Florida local government directory.
Start with the Florida rules, which cover burial, scattering and oversight for the whole state, and treat Miami Beach's local ordinances as a possible extra layer.
How to make sure a print is taken in time
- Tell your child what's happening in plain words, then offer them a part in making the print if they want one. Our guide to print-making with children has age-by-age ideas for what they can do.
- Give them a real job: rolling the clay, choosing the card color or writing the name.
- Let them press a hand or fingerprint beside the paw if they want to.
- If the print is taken after death, let an adult or the vet do it, and show your child the finished keepsake.
- Make a copy for your child's room, and tuck the original away out of harm's way.
- Come back to it later. Some children want the print framed straight away; others return to it months on.
Turning a print into something lasting
Miami Beach apartments are rarely large, and memorials here often need to be small: a compact urn on a bookshelf, a ring with a tiny hidden reservoir, or a cast of a paw set in a shadow box. If family members in different cities each want a share, request divided portions at the time of cremation, rather than splitting the remains yourself later on.
go deeper with the guides or catch up on recent articles, Our services overview lays out every option side by side, or compare your instinct with the poll results, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures. Close to Miami Beach we also cover Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa; the full list for Florida and for the United States is a click away.
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.
Whose print are you thinking about?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
When did (or will) you take your pet's print?
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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
Is cremation common in Florida?
For people, yes: about 72.5%[5] of Florida deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Miami Beach follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Is Miami Beach big enough to have several pet aftercare providers?
Probably, on the numbers. By our estimate about 30,000 Miami Beach households keep a dog or cat and around 2,500 lose one each year, which is enough steady demand to support more than one provider. We derive that from population (about 81,594), household size and national ownership and lifespan figures.
Will I have to travel to Miami to arrange things?
Not usually. Providers based in Miami (roughly 4 miles from Miami Beach) 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.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Miami Beach?
The closest communities we cover are Miami (about 4 miles), North Miami (about 6 miles) and North Miami Beach (about 8 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Miami Beach too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Can my pet's paw print be turned into a tattoo?
Yes, and it's a popular choice. A tattoo artist will want a clear, high-contrast flat print, so an ink or inkless print works better than clay. Scan it at a high resolution and bring the file to your consultation. Many people have the print tattooed at actual size, sometimes with the pet's name or a nose print alongside.
Can I get my dog's nose print?
Yes. Dab a small amount of pet-safe ink onto the nose with a soft sponge, or use an inkless wipe, then press a folded card gently against the nose from the front. It usually takes a few tries. The ridges on a dog's nose make a striking engraving on a pendant or an urn, and many providers take a nose print alongside the paw.
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] Final Gift charges $49 for ink paw prints, $76 for a clay or silver-clay paw print, $111 framed, and $133 framed with a fur clipping; a fur clipping alone costs $23. Final Gift Pet Memorial Center – Memorial Products, 2026.
- [7] A Greener Place in Mesa, Arizona, charges $75–$349 for individual pet aquamation by weight, including an urn, nameplate and ink paw print. A Greener Place Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [8] 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.
Ask who takes paw prints in Miami Beach
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.