Data sources
Everything on this site is meant to be checkable. This is the running list of the primary sources we lean on — the law, the standards, the research, and the datasets we built ourselves — with a plain note on what each one is used for. How we choose and weigh them is on our methodology page.
Federal & consumer protection
- FTC Funeral Rule ↗ The federal price-disclosure rule for human funerals — the baseline we contrast against, because it explicitly does not cover pets.
State law & regulation
For each regulating state we read the controlling statute or code directly. The full 50-state review, with every citation, lives on our law map.
- Hallowed Paws 50-State Law Map → Our own review of the burial, cremation-oversight, and aquamation statute in all 50 states — every cell linked to its primary source.
- Arizona — A.R.S. §32-2291 (Veterinary Medical Board) ↗ One of the few states that licenses and inspects pet crematories and requires animal ID.
- New York — Gen. Bus. Law Art. 35-C (Dept. of State) ↗ Pet-crematorium licensing and disclosure requirements.
- Illinois — 815 ILCS 318 ↗ Written-disclosure and certification requirements for pet cremation.
- Tennessee — T.C.A. §39-14-218 ↗ Chain-of-custody / receipt requirements.
- Maryland — HB 564 / Chapter 547 (2026) ↗ The newest pet-cremation consumer-protection law — registration, animal ID, certificate, and records.
- Texas — Occupations Code Ch. 651 ↗ Shows the common miscitation: Texas licenses crematories for human remains only, not pets.
Veterinary & end-of-life care
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) ↗ U.S. pet-ownership statistics and the framing of the vet as your pet’s advocate in end-of-life decisions.
- Dr. Alice Villalobos — HHHHHMM Quality-of-Life Scale → The veterinary quality-of-life scale behind our calculator and our "when is it time" guidance.
- Cornell Feline Health Center ↗ Feline end-of-life and disease guidance in our cat guides.
Industry standards
- IAOPCC — accreditation standards ↗ The pet-cremation industry’s own operating standards — the chain-of-custody bar we hold providers to.
- CANA — Certified Pet Crematory Operator ↗ Operator training on identification, tracking, and records — the standard good providers already meet.
Market & industry data
- IBISWorld — Pet Cremation Services ↗ U.S. pet-cremation market size, for scale and context.
Our own primary research (CC BY 4.0)
Where no public dataset existed, we built one. These are free to cite and reuse with attribution.
- 2026 Pet Cremation Cost Report → Published prices collected directly from 118 providers across 12 metros, plus the share that publish no price.
- Who Owns Your Pet’s Crematory → Original mapping of which local-sounding crematory brands belong to a few national parent companies.
- Documented Pet Cremation Cases → A sourced record of criminal charges and convictions, each tied to an official action and dated.
Missing a source, or think one is out of date? Tell us at editor@hallowedpaws.com. For the underlying datasets and citation details, see our press & data page.