The loss of a pet often leaves owners grappling with grief and questions surrounding the animal’s final rites. In Nagpur, where no animal cremation facility existed until recently, many families were forced to rely on private land or informal burial arrangements. Seeking to address that gap, Rise NGO has established the city’s first animal crematorium at its Rise For Tails Centre beside Bharat Gas, M18, Hingna road, MIDC Industrial Area. The initiative was conceived in November 2025 following a personal experience faced by the family of Gargi Vairagare, founder of Rise NGO, after the loss of her pet dog Coco in July 2025. Speaking to ‘The Hitavada’, Vairagare shared that, the experience exposed her to the lack of a dedicated facility where pet owners could bid farewell to their animals with dignity. “That experience led my parents, Dhanashree and Harshvardhan, to donate the crematorium to our NGO, so that, no family would have to face that helplessness again,” she expressed.

 

The crematorium now offers respectful cremation services and allows ashes to be returned to families wishing to perform religious rituals. The facility operates on electricity and LPG and incorporates pollution-control systems. Vairagare said, the project was designed as an environmentally responsible alternative to informal burial and open disposal methods. Meenal Mundle, whose pet dog Rio passed away last year, said Rise NGO enabled her family to conduct the cremation and collect the ashes for immersion rituals. “Being able to perform Rio’s last rites in a proper manner gave us peace and satisfaction,” she expressed. Another city resident Manjiri Dharmadhikari recalled her struggles to arrange the final rites of her first German Shepherd in 2022.

 

However, when her second German Shephard passed away few months ago, she was not as anxious. “When Rado passed away recently, I knew where I would take him. For the first time, I could give my pet proper final rites,” she shared. Beyond the crematorium, the NGO also treats injured, paralysed and post-operative animals. Over the past five years, the organisation has rescued and treated more than 10,000 animals and conducted over 5,000 sterilisation surgeries.