When our dog Wallie died a few weeks ago we knew we wanted to bury her out by our pond where she loved harassing its resident frogs and snakes. But we also knew it would take a couple of days for our children and their spouses to gather for the service. And by service I mean gently lowering our pet into her grave, saying a few words of remembrance and reading a couple of poems.
My wife called our vet and asked whether they could hold Wallie until we were ready, but they didn’t have the facilities. So they suggested Sienna Sky, a pet cremation service in Ghent, NY. We didn’t want to cremate our dog but Susan Bandy, Sienna Sky’s owner, kindly agreed to hold her until we were prepared to pick her up.
Susan, who worked for twenty years on Wall Street, started Sienna Sky in 2018 after apprenticing with Karen Walker. Karen was the owner of Buddy’s Place, a cremation service, in Hudson, NY. The passing of Karen’s beloved basset hound Buddy served as the genesis for her company as well as a cautionary tale.
Karen had her pet euthanized by her vet but had a feeling something was wrong. A couple of years later her intuition proved correct when the crematory operator who had contracted with local animals hospitals was arrested. Rather than incurring the cost of cremating the animals he’d dumped them in a ditch on a rural farm. The urns that were returned to their owners didn’t contain ashes but wood chips.
Part of the appeal of Sienna Sky is that the remains returned to owners are guaranteed to be those of their pets. Located in an attractive cottage in the heart of nature at the end of a scenic dirt road clients are allowed to spend as much time as they want saying good-bye before the cremation takes place. They can watch as much or as little of the process as they want. They can even send their best friend along with flowers and favorite toys.
“I work with one pet at a time,” Susan said as we sat in the cottage’s reception room. “You’re getting back your pets ashes.” The only thing that distinguishes the facility from a tasteful country house with excellent views are the shelves in one corner filled with urns, fine wood boxes and decorative tins. Susan says it’s because of Sienna Sky’s one-on-one care that clients come not only from the Hudson Valley but as far away as Long Island, Vermont and Pennsylvania.
If there’s anything that can cushion the loss of an integral family member such as a cat or dog, in my experience, it’s being in nature in general and among the companionship of other animals in particular. Sienna Sky has both covered. It happens to be located on eighty acres of Susan Bandy’s primary endeavor, Lily Pond Animal Sanctuary. That’s a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose fifty current residents include retired thoroughbred race horses, feral kittens and special needs dogs. “We focus on the least adoptable – seniors, special needs, hospice,” Susan explained as we followed a tree-shaded path to one of several horse corrals. “We’re the ones people call when nobody wants an animal.”
As a policy Lily Pond doesn’t adopt out. It takes its name from the aquatic flowers that rise from the depths into the light; Susan considered it as a sign when she discovered that the property already had a lily pond when she bought it in 2015. When she takes in an animal it’s for life.
That shows in her relationships with them. Not much of a cat lover myself, I was especially impressed when we entered the air-conditioned cat compound and Susan could identify all thirty felines not just by name but also by personal history and distinctive personality.
If one wanted to get all woo-woo about – I’m also not the woo-woo type – the fact that I managed to survive in the space for fifteen minutes without having a sneezing attack suggests that Lily Pond has been visited by divine grace.
I don’t want to get political (ok I do) but in era when division and immorality are celebrated – when a war of choice rages in Eastern Europe and closer to home politicians sow hate for clicks and to fill their campaign coffers – there’s something cleansing about a horse that was abused or saved from the kill pen who now trusts humans enough that it sidles up to the fence to be stroked as Susan approaches. And not unlikely also hoping for a treat. The sanctuary owner carries peppermint mints in her pockets so as not to disappoint.
Wallie’s burial couldn’t have been sweeter. Our neighbor Rich Fuss came through the woods with his backhoe, dug the grave and told us to give him a call when we were ready for his return. Our son-in-laws Henry and Malcolm lowered the dog in a simple shroud and we placed flowers and a stick – Wallie loved sticks – beside her. My daughter Gracie recited a couple of poems and we returned to the house to remember Wallie with the able assistance of sauvignon blanc and gin and tonics while Rich discreetly returned to fill the grave.
Susan Bandy, Sienna Sky and Lily Pond Sanctuary were a silent part of the ceremony, not just because they were there when we needed them but also because Wallie’s legacy of unconditional love lives on among the animals on her farm.
Ralph Gardner, Jr. is a journalist who divides his time between New York City and Columbia County. More of his work can be found be found on Substack.
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