Pet Cremation Services - do you go via your vet or to a pet crematorium direct?

When "that" time comes how many of us have thought about what after death care choices are out there beforehand?

Many people only come face to face with that decision at the point of or just after the Euthanasia of their much loved pet.  Nowadays most vets will offer clients the choice of only one company that can either cremate pets individually or en masse.  It may be that the company being used also takes away the vet's clinical waste and does so at the same time (on a weekly basis) as the pets that have died.

This means that your pet will remain in a freezer until the next scheduled collection.  When the van comes they will be taken away at the same time as other pets that have died that week and most likely alongside the practice's clinical waste.  The van will proceed on it's round to other veterinary surgeries in the area before returning to the crematorium.

A standard weekly veterinary collection service

Of course none of this is described to us and we are told our pet will be "looked after"

and be "treated with dignity" but is being put in a bag, into a freezer then

into a van with clinical waste in the least bit dignified?

Another option is to take your pet away for home burial - but what if you move, your garden is too small or if your pet is simply too large to bury? There are pet cemeteries scattered around the country but there is no guarantee that they will close leaving you with the dilemma of whether or not to exhume your pet's remains?

The third option is to do your own research and choose a smaller more local pet crematorium to take your pet to.  Normally if they are a specialist individual pet crematorium (don't forget to ask!) they will also provide a responsive collection service meaning your pet will not need to be put into the vet's freezer.  They also usually handle your pet with a lot more respect and can guarantee a genuine individual pet cremation rather than a diluted version sometimes offered by the larger companies.

Dignity Pet Crematorium only offers individual pet cremation services 

In some instances you can even have your pet cremated the same day and wait for their ashes (this normally attracts an additional fee).  If not then you can normally have their ashes back in a couple of days rather than the couple of weeks if organised through the vet!  The other advantage can be price as some vets make large profits from pet cremation services - but I will save that for another time!

For more information visit http://www.dignitypetcrem.co.uk/ or http://www.appcc.org.uk/ for your nearest APPCC member.