Disturbing Question...........

[Bun~Bun]

Very disturbing indeed, but I would like to know- what happens to animals that are put to sleep at vets? What do theydo to the body? I heard thst they are burned.......then where are theirashes spread at?
I'd like the truth.
Thanx a bunches!!

 

[350nr]

good question.

I would also like to know as well.

Also, if i may add to the question, what happens to animals that die athome? I know some people bury it at a pet cemetery or their back yard,but what if you live in an apartment and cant afford a cemetery?garbage can? jeeze.

i know fishes goto heaven when they enter the toilet, but what about others that dont fit?

:dunno

 

[karona]

Animals put to sleep at my vet are burned yes.It is called crwmation and the ashes can either be returned to you in abox or can be disposed of as medical waste. The shelter I volunteer foralso does cremation for the public and their animals. They have acemitary so the animals public have can have ahsed baried out therewith a stone or they can also become medical wastw with animals theyhave. Most vets creamte. And FYI in my area it is technicaly illegal tobury a dead animal in a zone not desegnated as a cemitary. Thisincluded bunnys and yes fish and hampsters to. Fish also are illgal tobe flushed. Check with yoyr bylaw it is probably in your are to.

 

[Bassetluv]

Yes, it would depend upon your area and what theparticular veterinarian has set up. I live in the city and wouldn't beallowed to bury any animals on my property even if I had the room, soif I lose a pet at home - as opposed to having him/her humanelyeuthanized at the vet's - then I would take the body to myveterinarian's office. I had to do this several years ago when my catSnooch died at home in my arms.

I don't think my vet offers cremation services, but I've never askedhim about it. I do know that he has arrangements made with a fellow inQuebec who has a farm with hundreds of acres...the animals he does putdown are buried there. So my vet gives the option of having the animalburied on the land in Quebec, or he asks if the client wishes to havethe body returned (in case they have a place of their own where theycan legally bury their pet).

 

[missyscove]

If an animal dies at home here, they are pickedup by the big green "dead animal pick-up" truck. This is alsothe truck that picks up the euthanized animals from theshelter.

Here in LA county, these animals are rendered.

http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/cms1_031226.pdf

Disposal (Rendering) of Deceased Animals from Los Angeles County Animal Shelters



The disposal of deceased animals fromCounty shelters is an emotional and often misunderstood process. Thisinformation is provided to answer the majority of questions regardingthe disposal of shelter animals. What happens to the bodies of theanimals that are euthanized at Countyshelters? Deceased animals arepicked up by D&D Disposal, also known asWest Coast Rendering,located in Vernon, Calif. The remains are rendered into animalby-products. D&D processes hundreds of tons of animalcarcasses, tissues and by-products that would otherwise end up inlandfills. What in involved in the rendering process? Rendering is ameans of recycling animal remains. The remains are placed in large vatsand heated to a high temperature in excess of 265 degrees Fahrenheit,at which point they become sterile and free of pathogens. Then a seriesof mechanical process occur that separate the fat, liquid, and proteinsinto separate collection systems. The majority of rendered materialsare remains of cattle, hogs, poultry, and sheep – the parts that cannotbe sold for meat, leather, or other products. Other animal remains,such as butcher scraps, restaurant grease, fish, zoo animals,marinelife, and animals from shelters are rendered as well.

What happens to the animal remains – how are they used?

The end results of the renderingprocess are tallow/grease and protein solids. Depending on the grade ofrendered product and the markets the business sells to, the remains canbe found in lubricants, polish, soap, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals,gelatin, fertilizers, pet foods (from rendered livestock – NOT DOGS ANDCATS), and agricultural feed. The remains of animals rendered byD&D are made into a protein-rich product called “tankage” andare shipped to Asia where tankage is used as part of the localaquaculture. The tankage is used to feed shrimp, which in turn are fedto eels. Sometimes the tankage is used in hog and chicken feed.



How prevalent is animal rendering?

Animal rendering has been practiced forover a hundred years as a means of salvaging protein and fat contentfrom otherwise waste material. According to the 1997 US Census, thereare 239 rendering establishments in the United States with 21facilities in California. However very few are able, due to volume orfood-quality constraints, to accept animals from animal shelters.D&D is the only establishment in southern California thatprovides this service. All animal shelters in southern California useD&D for the disposal of their animals. Animal Rendering FactSheet Page 1 of 3 April 8, 2004



Are rendered pets from the County used as ingredients in pet food?

NO. D&D assures us that petremains are not used as pet food ingredients. In addition, a 2002 studyby the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine(FDA/CVM) developed a test to detect dog and cat DNA in dog food. Theresults, “demonstrated a complete absence of material that would havebeen derived from euthanized dogs or cats”.



Does the Department receive money from the rendering company?

No. The County pays D&D for theremoval of dead animals from its shelters.



Is the euthanasia agent, sodium pentobarbital, found in pet food?

Sodium pentobarbital(pentobarbital) is not completely degraded during the renderingprocess, and minute portions may be found in pet food. However, theFDA/CVM’s 2002 study stated, “the pentobarbital residues are enteringpet foods from euthanized, rendered cattle or even horses.”Additionally, the levels of pentobarbital residue were found to be solow that the CVM concluded that “it is highly unlikely a dog consumingdry dog food will experience any adverse affects from exposures to thelow levels of pentobarbital.”



How is D&D regulated?

D&D operates underlicenses and permits issued by several different governmental andregulatory agencies. The California Department of Food &Agriculture, Meat & Poultry Inspection (MPI) Branch has directoversight of the rendering industry in California. This agency may becontacted at: 1220 "N" Street, Room A-125, Sacramento CA 95814 or bytelephone at (916) 654-0504. D&D is also inspected by theCounty Department of Health Services and also has permits from theFederal Food and Drug Administration, but the MPI is the main agencyresponsible for overseeing and inspecting D&D operations, andall inquires about D&D's rendering operationsshould be directedto that agency.



How many animals does the County send D&D?

Last year the County sent approximately80,000 animals to D&D. However, these were not all euthanizeddogs and cats. Of this number, 21,583 were dead animals removed fromstreets or animal bodies surrendered by their owners after their petspassed away. Furthermore, 7,294 were pets that were euthanized at therequest of their owners, usually for medical and humane reasons.Additionally, 9,264 were animals other than dogs and cats, such aslivestock, wildlife, birds, rabbits, etc. The remaining 42,486 weredogs and cats euthanized at our six County shelters.



What alternatives to the rendering process are available for animal disposal?

Right now, there are none. It is lesssafe to bury euthanized animals in landfills because the sodiumpentobarbital is still present in their bodies. Scavenging animals mayingest the pentobarbital and become ill or die (recently, a number ofbald eagles were found to have died from this source in the U.S.).Animal Rendering Fact Sheet Page 2 of 3 April 8, 2004



Also, it is unclear whether landfillswould accept deceased animals because they may not be able to handlethe volume. Cremation would require a very large scale, full-timeoperation to be able to process the volume of animals and would be muchmore expensive. There are also concerns whether the EPA would permitsuch an operation in this area due to present concerns about airquality. Finally, the image of crematoriums also generates emotionalreactions and may not be more aesthetically.Other Information:According to the FDA, prior to the appearance of BSE (mad cow disease),there was no evidence of human or animal disease associated with thefeeding of properly rendered and handled animal feed ingredientsdespite the use of tissues from diseased animals or animals that havedied otherwise than by slaughter. Further, the Department of AnimalCare and Control would not consider any other means of euthanasia otherthan sodium pentobarbital. It is universally regarded as the mosthumane and painless method of euthanasia. Animal Rendering Fact SheetPage 3 of 3 April 8, 2004

 

[Bangbang]

I think it depends on the vet clinic. At my workanimal that the owners have asked us to bury are taken to a farm thatthe owner of the clinic also owns and buried there. We dont send themoff to the dump or anything like that. Animals that are to be crematedare picked up by the organisation we work with and taken to theirfacility where they are individually cremated (well thats their claimand i hope its true) and placed in the urn or box or whatever the ownerchose.

 

[ahri22]

Wow...that is disturbing!! Rendering animals...

Our deceased pets have always been buried in the backyard, and I'm very thankful we've been able to do this!!

I think if I wasn't able to, I'd look into cremation or a pet cemetary. The alternative is just horrible!!

 

[missyscove]

I know you can have your animals cremated if youask the vet. Our cat was cremated and we have theashes. Of course, when you think about 80,000 animals a year,cremating them all would be incredibly expensive, not to mention thepollution that would result. While yes, rendering is adifficult thing to picture and not something that I would want to domyself. I can see how it is useful to be able to reusedeceased animals as opposed to filling up a landfill with medicalwaste. Think of the biohazard that would result from buryingthat many animals.

 

[JimD]

Our vets will take care of them wether they pass at home or are put to sleep at their office.
You have an option of individual cremation and return of their ashes at and extra charge.

 

[Echo]

The clinic I work at asks each owner do theywant to keep the body, and if not, everything is cremated, includingbody bits from surgery.
Non-claim animals are put in white bodybags, and individual cremationwhere the owner wants the ashes back, the body is put in a greenbodybag and get the ashes delivered in a little wooden sculpture.


The ashes are spread somewhere.

Personally if one of my animals die I take it back and bury it out back.

 

[pamnock]

There is a pet cemetery near us.

We bury our deceased on our property.

Pam

 

[polly]

My vets offers a cremation service and you getthe ashes back in a little box with a little bouquet and a certificatewithyour pets name on it, they also have a pet remembrance garden thatyou can have your pet buried in i think.

Our back garden isn't big enough to bury our pets. I had Snowie andDido cremated i was going to put Snowies ashes on our little waterfallwe made in the back garden as she loved climbing it, but when Didopassed before christmas we decided to buy an apple tree and put theirashes in the soil then the other bunnies can get the fruit off it andwe have a permanent reminder of them as well. It is just starting tocome out and makes me think of them every time i go out to my bunny shed

 

[Michaela]

Well so far I've only had 2 pets die (Topsy thecat and Berri of course) and they are both buried in our back garden(it's quite big so plenty of space). Pebble and Ebony's brothers andsisters (the three that didn't survive) are buried there too, nearBerri.

I think the vet gives you the choice of cremation or take the bodyhome, but i don't know, I've never had an animal have to be PTS.

 

[Starina]

My mom had to have 2 of her cats (her ONLY cats)put to sleep. Tinkerbell was 22, and Taz was 8. I think she went to acrematory and got them cremated, I would ask your vet. You can do allsorts of things with the ashes, they make urns, necklaces, evendiamonds from ashes.http://www.lifegem.com (This is whatI want to do with my BF and myself when I die. Then we would be mountedon our wedding rings.)

My MIL has a pet graveyard in her backyard. She made little gravestones for each of the animals.

~Star~

 

[jil101ca]

I lost 2 kittens in a house fire in 93 and theywere both buried in the pet cematary run by the Kitchener Humanesociety. and hammy the hampster was buried in our garden when he diedat the age of 4. We made him a stone and had a service for him in thepouring rain., my son was 10 at the time.

 

[karona]

Jil101ca, I volunteer at the kitchener humanesociety and it is the one I talk bou where I used to work. How neat.Yes the shelter I spoke of that soes creamation is kitchener. Thesemitary is lovely and we have 2 plots and 3 sections in the blockreserved.