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It is been a while since the topic of What did you do with the dead pets. Some of you said that sometimes you leave them at the veterinarians' offices. Do you know what their plan is?

This NY Veterinarian just dumped all the dead pets along the highway.

He has been charged. I think his license should be taken away for good.
(05-30-2012, 10:33 PM)Ram8349 Wrote: [ -> ]It is been a while since the topic of What did you do with the dead pets. Some of you said that sometimes you leave them at the veterinarians' offices. Do you know what their plan is?


He has been charged. I think his license should be taken away for good.

im pretty sure legally, they have to cremate them. i know our local vet offices have their own little crematorium to dispose of these animals. some of the owners take the ashes for a small charge, or their ashes get put into biohazard bags and disposed of that way. some even have their own little pet cemeteries.
Is it illegal to dump dead pets in the trash?
Why else did that NY veterinarian find the need to dump the dead pets on the highway?
(05-30-2012, 11:13 PM)Ram8349 Wrote: [ -> ]Is it illegal to dump dead pets in the trash?
Why else did that NY veterinarian find the need to dump the dead pets on the highway?

maybe he was too lazy to dispose of them properly? it is illegal to actually leave nonfood biologicals in the trash because it is not proper disposal and can contaminate waterways and such. did you hear about the slaughterhouse that was draining all their blood into a nearby river? they actually had their own river of blood until a plane got a picture and they were shut down.
Couldn't get the Yahoo News link to come up for the story but I think he should lose his license since in taking that lazy approach in disposing of the bodies of the animals. I can also see the possible hazard of dropping the bodies off the side of the highway as it would bring in scavengers that would cause possible road hazards. Not only that but it's basically littering.

I believe that most if not all shelters, vets, and other places that deal with animals cremate the remains. To send it to a local landfill would leech possible disease into the water supply or into the circle of life with rodents or other animals coming by to feed on the remains.
Not to mention the fact that some of the animals were probably sick, viral, bacterial, whatever, and anything that was in them is being set free in the environment. I'm not saying it's a real world version of The Andromeda Strain, but there is no good in allowing a bacteria a group of dead bodies to grow in and then spread.
A couple of vets in Milwaukee have their own cremation equipment, but the others contract with a pet cemetery that will pick-up, cremate, and return pets. If the owner doesn't want them back, I think the pet cemetery puts the ashes in a comunal grave. I think our humane society used to contract with them to dispose of euthanised animals, but since they built the new building in 2000, they have their own set up.

"I believe that most if not all shelters, vets, and other places that deal with animals cremate the remains. To send it to a local landfill would leech possible disease into the water supply or into the circle of life with rodents or other animals coming by to feed on the remains. '

There was a recent article in the paper about a number of hawks (eagles?) that were found poisened. It seemed that they had been dining on the repains of pets euthanised at an animal shelter up north and dumped in the local landfill.
Yeah, Karena is right. The remains being fed on by wild animals is a problem. Since some of them are euthanized, they might still contain the poisoning that killed them. Eagles and many other wild animals are scavengers if there is opportunity. They can easily get killed by eating the euthanized pets.
In New Zealand it is the pet owner's responsibility to depose of their pets remains. I can't imagine anyone who would choose to leave it up to a vet. Unless you're talking about animals put down by vets at a pound?

Unfortunately two of my childhood dogs had to be euthanized during old age (they were both older than 12 years old) due to Cushing’s disease which is common to their breed. The decision was not taken lightly by my mother and we kept them alive as long as we could. Until they were too much pain for us to stand. Anyhow with Honey we had her euthanized at the vet and they put her in a special box, which we buried in our family garden. Rosie passed away a few years later and we actually had the vet pay a house call. Which apparently is a decision many people opt for as your pet is in familiar territory surrounded by people that love them.

The article was disheartening I have no idea how that vet actually got to be a vet in the first place. Surely someone would've noticed there was something a little off about them?
To be honest, I'm not really sure what the vet does with animal remains here, now I'm very curious. tajnz, not everyone lives in a house with a yard, and pet cemeteries and cremation centers aren't very common. Sometimes you don't have a choice but to leave it to the vet. I would love it if they would cremate the remains and then return them to me, but I doubt that's how its done here.
The opening story was really sad. It would be nice to know that he got his vet license taken from him, but it's a question if he got any punishment at all.
I worked at a vets office for a while and to be honest its a little grim. Once the pet is dead they are wrapped in a plastic bag and left in an industrial freezer, then about once a week a truck comes by to pick them up and then transport them to a cremation facility. I always dreaded having to help load up the truck, the drivers just threw the corpses in the back of the truck. It was difficult seeing the family cry at the loss of their pet and only a few days later see it thrown nonchalantly into a truck. The job was very rewarding in other ways at least. Smile
Our veterinarian cremates animals that they have put down by charging a fee. I believe they give you the option to bury your pet if you choose and they probably have a special box to prevent contamination or something. I'm not quite sure about that though. I do feel the irresponsibility of the vet who dumped those animals should have his license taken away for good. That is just really sad on so many levels that he would do that Sad
In many countries it is the owners' legal responsibility to dispose of the the dead bodies. The vet is obligated to return the dead pet to the owners. I think if is wrong to leave the animal to be disposed by the vet.

I know most pet owners would prefer that they cremate or bury their own pets so I guess this is how things should be done.
Unfortunately I have heard of local pet shelters putting them into landfills/dumpsters of some sort. I can't imagine the trash collector would allow that as pick ups, so they must have been burying them somehow behind the place.

Our local cat shelter puts the dead cats in bags then places them in a freezer. They are creamated in groups.
Having worked in several Veterinary clinics across the country I have seen what they do with pet remains. It is not pretty, in fact it is quite disgusting and heart breaking

Simply put, IT IS NOT ILLEGAL for euthanized or deceased animals to be sent to a landfill. It is actually very common and more of the norm than actual cremation.

Deceased pets are placed in bags. Sometimes these are bio-hazard bags and sometimes these are regular garbage bags - there is no law dictating the choice. The pets are frozen and held until someone from the landfill is called to pick up the pets, usually when the freezer starts to get full. The pets are loaded and taken to a specific part of the landfill. They are dumped and covered. Beyond that, I wouldn't know.

It's a horrible thought and terrible to think about.

There are of course optional services, such as cremation. I however have never heard of a vet offering free cremation. If you have a vet that does it then you are very lucky.

Words of advise, beware of the words "communal burial", unless you are paying for cremation and for the ashed to be spread over rainbow bridge. Communal Burial is only a politically correct and gentle way of saying that they will dump your pet with other pets, in a landfill.
That sounds terrible, Birdpoo! I would never have thought they send the pets to landfills, that seems very heartbreaking. I guess they figure they do not matter as much as people do and are not treated with the same respect. That is really sad to think about though. The cremation thing is what my Vet has always done for us. I did not realize it was just that my family and I have been lucky though, guess I should be sure to thank my Vet next time I see her! She would do it free and always offered for us to keep the ashes and everything, I honestly thought that was just normal routine for vet offices to do.

I had a cousin that did not want to pay for the burial so when there pet died they just buried the dog in the backyard. I don't think that is technically legal to do though (Not positive just what I have heard.) But at least he got the burial he deserved for being a wonderful pet for all those years.
(01-25-2014, 02:03 AM)Roseary Wrote: [ -> ]That sounds terrible, Birdpoo! I would never have thought they send the pets to landfills, that seems very heartbreaking. I guess they figure they do not matter as much as people do and are not treated with the same respect. That is really sad to think about though. The cremation thing is what my Vet has always done for us. I did not realize it was just that my family and I have been lucky though, guess I should be sure to thank my Vet next time I see her! She would do it free and always offered for us to keep the ashes and everything, I honestly thought that was just normal routine for vet offices to do.

I had a cousin that did not want to pay for the burial so when there pet died they just buried the dog in the backyard. I don't think that is technically legal to do though (Not positive just what I have heard.) But at least he got the burial he deserved for being a wonderful pet for all those years.

Roseary, You are a very lucky lady to have been able to find a vet that offers such compassionate services to his clients! That is a rare trait these days! Definitely thank her as I have YET to see a vet that offers cremation as a free service to our deceased babies.

I wish cremation was the standard for our pets after we have lost them. The thought of the landfill filling up with out beloved babies sickens me. It has always broken my heart.

As far as I know, it is still completely legal to bury your pet in your yard.

Everyone has their preferences. One person's perfect choice is anothers last option. Now people can at least know what happens behind closed doors at a veterinary clinic. Always ask questions, educate yourself and verify the information. Never take a persons word for it, check it out yourselfSmile
We always buried our pets in the backyard growing up, even if they died at the vet, we'd bring them back home. I think most reputable places will cremate them. I've even seen a few that had little cemeteries but I'm sure there isn't a room for all of them so maybe they charge a little more for that and the others are cremated. I've thought about this, though, since we rent now that I'm married with a kid. What if our dog died while we live here? Would we bury her in the yard, even though we don't own it? I wonder if there are pet cemeteries that you can pay for just like a human cemetery?
it never grows any less demanding pushing healthy pet to rest. Shocking to figure they may place them in puppy bolster. Utilizing the bodies for analyzation or vet preparing is something to be thankful for, they need to learn on something.
dumping dead pets in the trash is really ridiculous.