Saying goodbye to a pet fish in Scranton

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Getting help with a fish loss around Scranton

Scranton winters are cold and snowy, with January lows around 20F and freezing temperatures from December through March. Icy hills can slow any vehicle, so allow extra time for a pickup after a storm. The upside is that an enclosed porch or basement stays chilly enough to hold your pet safely overnight if needed. July highs in the mid-80s call for quicker action.

Scranton fills the Lackawanna River valley in northeastern Pennsylvania, hemmed in by wooded ridges on both sides, with Wilkes-Barre about 20 miles down the valley. Many neighborhoods are rows of frame double-block houses climbing steep hillside streets, some with long flights of concrete steps up from the sidewalk. When arranging a home collection, mention the steps, the grade of your street and whether parking is on a hill.

In a place the size of Scranton, the fish that dies is sometimes a shared one: the classroom goldfish, the tank in a dentist's waiting room or the koi in a church garden. A quick word to everyone who fed and watched it helps. A teacher can let pupils choose a burial spot in the school grounds, with the principal's agreement, while a staff member keeps the fish in a freezer at home until the group has decided what to do.

With roughly 75,514 residents, Scranton is the 7th-largest of the 36 Pennsylvania communities we cover.

Our pages for Wilkes-Barre (16 miles), Hazleton (36 miles) and Binghamton (49 miles) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Scranton as well.

To check the figures yourself, see Embrace Pet Insurance and UK Pet Food (formerly PFMA) Pet Population 2026.

Heat, ice and your pond in Scranton

In January, when lows in Scranton average around 20°F, a fish that dies can wait in an unheated garage or shed inside a lidded tub, as long as it stays frozen solid. That helps if your kitchen freezer is small. Watch for mild spells, and for animals: a tub with clip-on catches keeps raccoons, foxes and the family cat out. Move it to a freezer indoors if a thaw is forecast.

Some Scranton families choose cremation in winter precisely because the ground is frozen, then scatter or bury the ashes in spring. For a larger koi, that gives you a small urn to keep through the cold months and a chance to plan something by the pond once the ice has gone. For a small fish, the freezer and a spring burial usually make more sense.

Local rules in Pennsylvania

A loss sometimes leads families to give up fish keeping altogether. If you're rehoming the fish that are left, offer them to a fish store, a club or another keeper; don't be tempted to free them in a local stream or lake, however healthy the water looks. Escaped pet fish spread parasites and compete with native species. For the fish you've lost, the local rules in Pennsylvania are below.

To find your county or city office in Pennsylvania, start with the official Pennsylvania local government directory.

The rules that apply across Pennsylvania (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Pennsylvania page. Scranton may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.

Remembering your fish in Scranton

Nay Aug Park, with its wooded gorge and waterfall on Roaring Brook, has been a Scranton family outing for generations, and the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail follows the river through town. Some residents want to return to these places after a loss. Scattering ashes on public land needs a word with the managing authority first; a backyard garden or planter needs no one's permission.

try the free planning tools, look through our guides and the blog, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, or look at how readers voted in our polls. More local pages: Bethlehem, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie, the Pennsylvania overview and every city in the United States.