Page 6 - Compassion Understood - Options

CREMATION
Cremation is the process by which your pet’s body is burned in a special furnace and the remains (ashes) disposed of
or given to you to have at home.
The actual cremation process itself takes some time. You may be able to wait to receive your pet’s ashes if you have personally taken your pet’s body to the crematorium. Many crematoria also offer the facility to spend some time with your pet’s body in a remembrance room before the cremation.
Most crematoria are run by pet lovers themselves and they will often have experienced pet loss themselves. Many will have additional support services for both the veterinary practices they serve, as well as pet owners. They usually welcome visits before or after your pet’s cremation and usually provide quiet spaces for contemplation or reflection, as well as answering any specific questions you may have.
When arranging the cremation of your pet, you have two choices; you can either directly arrange the cremation yourself by contacting the crematorium,
and then take your pet’s body there yourself (some will collect from your home), or you can arrange the cremation through your veterinary practice.
If you have chosen to have your pet cremated then there are several options. These may vary depending on the crematorium you or your veterinary practice chooses.
COMMUNAL CREMATION
(Also known as group or mass cremation).
In this instance the pet’s body is cremated along with the bodies of other pets. As there is no separation of pets
in this process, you will not receive any ashes back. Ashes are usually disposed of as waste at a licensed facility,
and these can include landfill sites. Unless there is a large dedicated area available for ashes to be interred at the crematorium, only a small proportion may be scattered or interred in a garden of remembrance or dedicated place at the crematorium. This is at the discretion of the crematorium as to whether this takes place or not. If you wish this to be done, then it is a good idea to specifically enquire with the crematorium whether this happens.
Some facilities may offer for you to have a small representative ‘token’ amount of the group ashes returned to you. Note that this is not in any way regulated, and there is no guarantee that the token ashes returned to you