Posted: 9/29/2009 6:44:56 AM EDT
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When you bring your pet to the vet to have it euthanized, what do they do with the body?
I heard but I am skeptical, that they give it to a "rendering" company and it ends up in twinkies    
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Unless you want something specific done with it (or want the ashes, or whatever), I believe they just go a big incenerator. Thank god! My gfriend is going to have to put one of her dogs down soon and I was hoping cremation was the right answer. I have to now go kick some ones ass for the twinkie story. |
| Either individual cremation (you pay for it) or in some cases Valley Proteins picks up the carcasses for rendering. |
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Either individual cremation (you pay for it) or in some cases Valley Proteins picks up the carcasses for rendering. Even if it is rendered for its protein, that's not supposed to go into human food products. Only dogs foods, skin care products, and the like. |
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Either individual cremation (you pay for it) or in some cases Valley Proteins picks up the carcasses for rendering. But I don't think companies like that pick up (or receive) households PETS that have been euthenized by a vet. |
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Either individual cremation (you pay for it) or in some cases Valley Proteins picks up the carcasses for rendering. I thought they stopped using downer cattle for feed because of mad cow. Apparently not.... Hard to tell if they are taking pets. They might not do pets. I think there are some state laws about such things. |
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Shop around.
In my local area the cost of the vet putting down a pet and an individual cremation was over $250. I found a vet in the next closest city that did everything for $120. The local animal shelter told us that most of the places send the remains to a land fill unless the owner requests cremation. |
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Here's the truth from someone with first hand experience. If you don't want to take them with you, they go to the dump.
Burning them is too time consuming. It takes an awful lot of heat and time to fully burn a body. The regulations on the facilities to cremate are also prohibitive in nature. Most vets or pounds just wrap them in super hefty bags and freeze them until they get taken to the landfill. I have personally put down hundreds of dogs and cats, most of them healthy. My dad (anesthesiologist) taught me to do it in high school and my mom ran the humane society in town. It broke my heart. I now have a flagrant disregard for most humans, excepting my immediate family and Seven Mary Three. He seems alright. |
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My wife used to work as a Vet Tech. You either go get them created, or there is a service that comes to pick up the animal bodies once a week. They are bagged and put in the fridge / freezer to await pickup. Sometimes the vet will let you take them home, but IIRC, its against some code somewhere. |
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We had to put our dog down about a month ago. The total for the vet's services, pick up of the remains, cremation (individual) and an urn was right around $200.00. Well worth it, as far as we were concerned. We could also have brought our dog's remains home, for burial on our property.
Animals that have been euthanized by a vet or shelter worker are considered unsuitable for any type of food, due to the IV drugs used during the process. As I understand it, if the owner decides not to claim the remains for cremation or burial, the remains will be transported to a landfill. Grumpy |
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What ever happened to burying the dog in the back yard under his/her favorite shade tree? That's a damn big hole, depending on the dog. Cats are pretty easily buried whole, but cremation is sometimes necessary depending on the size of the pet. Big dogs = individual cremation, then I deal with the remains. |
Some just go to the landfill, so if you care, you really need to leave with the carcass. You can then determine what happens. Even with (expensive) cremation I've heard persistent rumors you just get "some ashes" back, and they likely don't have YOUR pet's ashes among them. It is simply too expensive to run the oven to do just one carcass. Think about it. 
I'm sorry for your loss. 
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The place that I had the individual cremation done at for my buddy Bart is an upstanding organization. There is none of the "tell them anything, and just give them some ashes" going on there. you are free to inspect the premises and observe if you wish. I KNOW I got my dogs, and no other dogs, ashes back. I can only speak as to my situation. YMMV Animal Cremation Services |
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Some just go to the landfill, so if you care, you really need to leave with the carcass. You can then determine what happens. Even with (expensive) cremation I've heard persistent rumors you just get "some ashes" back, and they likely don't have YOUR pet's ashes among them. It is simply too expensive to run the oven to do just one carcass. Think about it.
I'm sorry for your loss. In college I dated a girl who was working for a veterinary crematorium. I watched the process a few times, and it was pretty clear the ashes being gathered were specific to the animal in question. There would always be a little residue from the previous animal, but very very small amounts. ETA - they also did communal cremations for remains that were to be cremated but not returned to the owner. No hope of getting a specific set of ashes from that process. |
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The place that I had the individual cremation done at for my buddy Bart is an upstanding organization. There is none of the "tell them anything, and just give them some ashes" going on there. you are free to inspect the premises and observe if you wish. I KNOW I got my dogs, and no other dogs, ashes back. I can only speak as to my situation. YMMV Animal Cremation Services Same here with my dog a couple of years ago. They cremate individually and track everything. |
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Some just go to the landfill, so if you care, you really need to leave with the carcass. You can then determine what happens. Even with (expensive) cremation I've heard persistent rumors you just get "some ashes" back, and they likely don't have YOUR pet's ashes among them. It is simply too expensive to run the oven to do just one carcass. Think about it.
I'm sorry for your loss. In college I dated a girl who was working for a veterinary crematorium. I watched the process a few times, and it was pretty clear the ashes being gathered were specific to the animal in question. There would always be a little residue from the previous animal, but very very small amounts. ETA - they also did communal cremations for remains that were to be cremated but not returned to the owner. No hope of getting a specific set of ashes from that process. You get what you pay for. 
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Quoted: When you bring your pet to the vet to have it euthanized, what do they do with the body? I heard but I am skeptical, that they give it to a "rendering" company and it ends up in twinkies You bring the body home, and bury it in the yard, of course. If you can't do that, there are options such as individual cremation (you get the ashes back), group cremation (you don't get the ashes), pet cemetaries, etc.. However, if you don't specify what's going to happen, there is always the chance that the pet will end up at a rendering plant. In that case, it would be ground up with all sorts of other animals, and used for anything from cattle or poultry feed to fertilizer - or even cosmetics. Your chance of that happening is probably much higher if you leave the pet at a shelter or animal control for euthanasia than at a vet's office, but that's a chance I wouldn't want to take. Quoted: Quoted: What ever happened to burying the dog in the back yard under his/her favorite shade tree? That's a damn big hole, depending on the dog. Cats are pretty easily buried whole, but cremation is sometimes necessary depending on the size of the pet. Big dogs = individual cremation, then I deal with the remains. I know a guy that has even dug the holes for all five of his HORSES by hand... I believe that a man should dig the graves for his pets. It's part of his duty, and a good thing for him. We had to have one of my dogs put down two weeks ago, and she was a pretty big dog. The hours of digging the grave were very good for me, and after we had a funeral for her, my son helped me fill in the grave. It was very good for him, and he learned a lot from the experience. He worked harder and longer than I've ever seen him before, and would NOT leave the job unfinished. He saw the value of duty and paying respect to our pup, and it also helped him greatly in finding a sense of closure and security after the loss. Quoted: Quoted: Either individual cremation (you pay for it) or in some cases Valley Proteins picks up the carcasses for rendering. I thought they stopped using downer cattle for feed because of mad cow. Apparently not.... Hard to tell if they are taking pets. They might not do pets. I think there are some state laws about such things. "Downers" were illegal before mad cow, I think... they just didn't enforce it. Feeding dead cows to other cows was illegal before mad cow, but everyone did it. Pets certainly are used, rendering plants will take all of the "free meat" they can make a buck off of. |
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The place that I had the individual cremation done at for my buddy Bart is an upstanding organization. There is none of the "tell them anything, and just give them some ashes" going on there. you are free to inspect the premises and observe if you wish. I KNOW I got my dogs, and no other dogs, ashes back. This describes the place that handled Boomer's remains as well. My wife said that she'll slip the dog's urn into my casket. Grumpy |
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What ever happened to burying the dog in the back yard under his/her favorite shade tree? That sorta went by the wayside whenever it became dispopular for people to "take care" of their pets themselves. We've buried both out German Shepherds in the backyard, the first after being euthanized. The second passed away at home. Yes its a big hole to dig, but a small price to pay to properly bury a friend. |