Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park is a 10-acre pet cemetery at 5068 N. Old Scandia Lane in Calabasas, in the San Fernando Valley just outside Los Angeles city limits. It was founded on September 4, 1928, by veterinarian Dr. Eugene C. Jones, who treated many Hollywood clients and was among the early practitioners to use X-rays on animals. City ordinances at the time prohibited burying animals within Los Angeles city limits, so Jones established the park on rural land formerly associated with the estate of Hollywood financier Gilbert H. Beesemeyer. The first burial is said to have been the Jones family dog. The park originally covered about 15 acres; after the Jones family donated it to the Los Angeles SPCA in 1973, five acres were sold for development. In the mid-1980s a group of plot owners formed the nonprofit S.O.P.H.I.E. (Saving Our Pets History In Eternity), purchased the remaining property, and successfully lobbied for state legislation. In 1986 the cemetery received the same legal protections as a human cemetery, making further development illegal. It remains one of the few pet cemeteries in the United States with that status and is still operated by S.O.P.H.I.E. More than 40,000 animals are interred there.
Notable burials include animal actors and the pets of celebrities: Kabar (Rudolph Valentino’s Doberman), Tawny (one of the MGM lions, buried near a cat named Cinderella), Jiggs (the chimpanzee who played Cheetah in early Tarzan films), Topper (Hopalong Cassidy’s horse), Petey/Spot from the Our Gang / Little Rascals films, Room 8 (the famous school cat from Elysian Heights Elementary), Mae West’s monkey Boogie, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s cocker spaniel Droopy, Charlie Chaplin’s dogs, and animals belonging to Alfred Hitchcock, Gloria Swanson, John Barrymore, and others. A 1929 Art Deco mausoleum still stands on the grounds. Evelyn Waugh referenced the cemetery in his 1948 novel The Loved One as the “Happier Hunting Ground.”
Reported Hauntings and Folklore
The most frequently mentioned paranormal stories center on Kabar, Rudolph Valentino’s dog. Visitors have reported hearing barking or panting near his grave and, in some accounts, feeling a dog lick their hand. These reports are anecdotal and appear in local lore and “weird California” write-ups rather than formal investigations. A related story ties Kabar to the long-standing “Lady in Black” tradition associated with Valentino’s own tomb at Hollywood Forever Cemetery; some accounts claim the mysterious visitor has also left flowers at Kabar’s grave. No extensive body of documented ghost sightings exists for the rest of the park. The cemetery’s Hollywood connections and the emotional nature of pet burials have helped keep these occasional stories in circulation, but they remain folklore and visitor reports.
Relevant links
Weird California: LA Pet Cemetery — Kabar lore
Official site: Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park — history and current operations
Wikipedia: Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park — overview and notable burials
Atlas Obscura: Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park — visitor information
Los Angeles Times archive articles — historical coverage of the park and its 1980s preservation fight
You can visit the cemetery’s official website here: https://lapetcemetery.com/.
