Tombs of a dog and a monkey named Kiki in the 'Cimetiere des Chiens'in Asnieres-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris, France on May 2021.The Parisian 'Cemetery of Dogs and Other Domestic Animals'is said to be the world's oldest public pet cemetery. Le 'Cimetiere des Chiens’ is a long, narrow cemetery with attractively landscaped grounds that overlook the Seine. The neatly laid-out rows of graves include tombstones and other monuments from the late 19th Century to the present day, many with statues or photos of beloved pets. The cemetery owes its beginnings to a law that was passed in 1898, when the Paris city government declared that dead pets couldn't just be tossed out with the trash or dumped in the Seine, but had to be buried in hygienic graves at least 100 meters from the nearest dwelling. Attorney Georges Harmois and journalist Marguerite Durand quickly conceived the idea of a 'cemetery for dogs and other domestic animals'. In June, 1899, digging began on a narrow parcel of riverfront land in Asnieres-sur-Seine. The new cemetery opened for business that summer, and over the years more than 40 000 animals have been buried in the Cimetière des Chiens, not just dogs, but also cats, a racehorse, a lion, a monkey, and domestic animals such as rabbits, hamsters, mice, birds, and fish. The markers are full of sentiment and epitaths from times gone by to fill one's heart to overflowing. The most famous graves of the cemetery are: the grave of Film star Rin Tin Tin; the grave of Moustache, the mascot of the Napoleon's Grande Armée; the graves of two World War 1 trench dogs and the monument to Barry the famous mountain rescue dog. Photo by Eric Vandeville/ABACAPRESS.COM