All Dogs Go To Heaven...but do some go to a dumpster first?

I know the title of this post is disturbing. I am not just talking dogs either, I am also talking about cats. The reason I am posting this is to get some feedback from you guys. I worked for a vet for almost a year as a receptionist. I never knew this horrible truth until I worked at a vet. I learned the most awful and disturbing secret while working there because obviously in working there, I knew and seen what really went on "behind the scenes". What I found out literally disgusts me.

I was about 3 months in to working at the vet. In 3 months time, I had seen many sick animals result in having to be put down :-( So far, anyone that had their pet put down had either chose private cremation or to take their pet home with them for a yard burial. Until one day, this very feeble elderly couple brought in their very large and very sick golden retriever. The Vet Tech had to get the dog out of their car and carry it in. Long story short, the dog needed to be put down. After it was all said and done, they came up front to check out and I asked them if they wanted to take their dog home with them for a yard burial or if they wanted to leave their dog with us and we would make arrangements for it to be picked up and privately cremated (we used a local business that would come pick up the pets, cremate them and then return the remains back to us. We would then call the owner so they could then pick up the ashes and pay the cremation fee).

The couple tearfully refused private cremation and yard burial. They said that they were unable to take the dog home because they were not in good enough health to be able to dig a hole and didn't have anyone that could do it for them...(it was a huge dog so the hole would have been very big and difficult for them to dig) Since I was new and still learning and I wasn't sure what other options to offer them, I left the desk and asked the Vet what to do. He told me to charge them a disposal fee of $50 and that we would just take care of it. I returned to the couple and told them the option and they agreed to it, paid the $50 and sadly walked out the door. I didn't even think anything of it or to ask exactly what "we would just take care of it" meant. I just assumed since they paid the $50, we would use that money towards the dog having a Communal Cremation. The couple didn't ask how it would be disposed of either. But again, they were probably like most people that would assume that "the Vet taking care of it" would mean the body being sent off for Communal Cremation or may even possibly taking it somewhere to be buried. One would never imagine that there would be any other option.

When I finally got some down time after several minutes, I finally asked one of the Vet Techs about it. What exactly do we do with euthanized animals that the owners don't take home or have cremated? The Vet Tech just casually shrug her shoulders and nonchalantly said we just put them in a black trash bag and throw them in the dumpster behind the building. She said this with the least bit of concern and like it was no big deal. My mouth literally dropped opened. I just could not believe what I was hearing and that the Vet just charged that poor elderly couple $50 for a "disposal fee" to just toss it out back in the dumpster at the end of the day with the daily office trash. If the couple knew that was what "Disposal Fee" meant, there is NO way they would have agreed to that or paid $50 for someone to just throw their dog in the trash. They could have took the dog with them and did that themselves! "Disposal fee" apparently is just a friendly and nicer way of saying we are going to throw your pet companion for the last 14 years, a member of your family in the dumpster out back. The idea of this just makes me sick to my stomach. No animal deserves to be just tossed in the dumpster like a piece of trash. I don't care if the animal has been in your family for the last 14 years or if it's a day old kitten or puppy with tons of health problems that just didn't make it! No animal deserves an ending like that.

If you are a Vet Tech or a Veterinarian and you see no problem with just tossing an animal in the trash then you are in the wrong field. This is not an act of a true animal lover. If you truly loved animals, there is no way you would be okay with this! So after finding this out, I am now wondering what is it that Animal Control does with their animals that they can't find homes for and they have to put down? Do they just toss those in the dumpster as well? Do any of y'all know of anything like this going on where you live? This should definitely be against the law! It is so cruel. I LOVE animals so to me, it's no different than if someone just threw away a human in the dumpster when they pass away. Animals deserve a proper burial just like humans.

Presumably the vet has to pay for a professional service to empty the dumpster regularly so the contents are safely disposed of. The dumpster would not just contain the bodies of dogs and cats, but all species that have had to be put down, such as pet birds, rodents, hamsters and reptiles.

I see nothing wrong in this. It is human sentimentality to think that every pet needs to have a funeral. It is the owner's right to take the body and bury it or have it cremated, but some owners will not want to bother to do this and will be happy to let the vet dispose of their dead pet in a responsible way.

I personally think this should not be done. I think $50 is way too much money just to throw a dog away in the dumpster. Although it may be true that the vet must be paying extra for somebody to pick up the bodies, I doubt very much if it would cost $50.00 per body. I think a communal cremation should be in place. I also think owners of pets should have a plan as to what they plan to do with the bodies of their pets if and when they die. They should be ready to spend money for cremation or to dig a hole in their gardens. The responsibility of a pet owner does not stop when their pet has made his last breath.

My first job at 14 was at a veterinary hospital. I was a kennel worker, AKA lowliest job in the place. I was often the one responsible for taking euthanized animals to the dumpster in the black bags. Seeing this thread and typing this out certainly brings back some of the raw emotion from that time. I had been excited to work at the vet at first. I didn't mind cleaning up all the animal waste. I enjoy taking care of animals. They have such kind souls and I've always had a kinship with them since I was a small boy.

Seeing this colder side of veterinary work was very disturbing and affected me for a while. There was one dumpster that was used for standard trash, and another dumpster that was used only for corpses. I'm not certain how often it was cleaned out for lack of a better term. And even then I don't know where they're taken.

I love dogs and I love cats. I'd like to think I can think of a better way now as an adult for the vets to handle it, but I don't know how. The sheer number of euthanized animals is too high I feel for anything else.

Good thread, thank you for posting.

You are a very compassionate person. Thank you so much for posting this topic, and I am glad that you chose your title because it really shocked me. It made me think about the truth regarding what probably happens to most animas when left at clinics. I had my puppy put down at a clinic because he was suffering from Parvo. They told me they could possibly save him for $500 minimum. I had $100 total, so I sadly had to let my dog die. I am glad I did not know then that my dog was probably put in a black bag. When I brought him in they gave him a test to see if he had Parvo, and he did. They then said that it would cost $300 total for the office visit, the Parvo test, anesthesia, medical waste fee and dumping fee (though they had another name for it.) I didn't have $300, and I told them that I would just take my Parvo stricken dog with me and let him die in my arms. But then they talked to the manager, and the manager said that they would take the $100. To this day, I wonder if by law they had to take my dog because he had Parvo.