Canada’s First Pet Cemetery Is Now Abandoned

Canada’s first pet cemetery was started by Victor Blochin and Anne Wilson in 1933. Known as Happy Woodlawn, it became a public burial grounds for cats, dogs, rabbits, at least one horse, and a monkey named Peter. The couple sold caskets for $50, and mourning families were often invited in for tea after burials.

Blochin was a Major in the Russian Red Army. In World War I, he was captured and held as a prisoner of war in Germany. He became friends with another captive, Angus Campbell, the Lord of Dunstaffnage Castle in Scotland. After the war ended, Blochin moved with Campbell to Scotland to work as a gardener at the castle. Campbell was a breeder and gifted him a West Highland White Terrier who Blochin called Snejka (Snowflake). In the 1920s Blochin left Scotland for Canada, with one of Snejka’s sons and a female Westie.