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Pets- Cremation or burial?

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I know personally that I like cremating my pets(although being only 19.. I only have two pets that have passed and kept), I get extremely insulted when people come up(especially family) and say to me 'Why not just toss your pet under some dirt instead of spending more money on the thing?' Which I have been said to, exactly like that.. Or when family members really close to you don't remember which pet passed away that was like a family member it the pet's own right.

I almost lost my two animals today that I was going to cremate, my mother was storing them along with her previous cat, and she had her electricity shut off. She was using a power cord from her neighbor's to power her TV for her dogs but couldn't be bothered to use the extension to put the freezer she had the animals in on so they didn't decay or anything. She's a very confusing person and never makes sense, ever. I turned into an emotional mess once I knew my pets were in danger of not being salvageable for cremation so I made tons of frantic phone calls to family members all saying that they didn't want dead animals(pets or otherwise) in their freezers and they most certainly wouldn't help me to get a freezer to use.

That left me with only my aunt and uncle that had already gone way above and beyond for me. They told me that if I wanted to get them cremated, they'd hold them until I could afford it. It broke my heart, apparently my mother had her electricity shut off three days before I found out. All the meat she had stored was rancid and my animal's boxes were just horrible but they didn't smell which was a gift from god I'm sure.

I was so close to these animals in life, and even though it's just a body now I can't seem to part with that either I suppose. I've buried pets before, but my bond was never as strong as it was with these two pets. There was a third pet that I completely regret parting with, I wish I took her and kept her until I could cremate her too even though we only knew each other for a few months until her untimely passing.

So what do you like better personally? Burial or Cremation? Why do you like that "method", what makes it so special?

There is a third option, taxidermy/freeze drying. Would you ever consider that?

06-11-2013 at 7:09 PM

For me... I would do either cremation or taxidermy. My current dog has been with me for close to 10 years and is my lifeline in times of need. I would love to have him forever with me. More than likely, I'm going to go with Cremation, mainly for the fact that I found a site that will make necklaces or bracelets from the ashes of loved ones. I'm going to end up doing that with his ashes :3

04-24-2013 at 7:43 PM

I'd want mine cremated so I could have the ashes. Taxidermy feels... wrong. In my opinion, it's almost like intruding on the animal's rights. I know I wouldn't want my body displayed in my family's living room! I know a lot of you are for taxidermy, and I respect that. It's just not my cup of tea.

04-23-2013 at 1:36 PM

id prob just keep the bones after burying them.

04-22-2013 at 7:54 PM

I'd go with taxidermy if it was a pet I really loved. If I could see them I'd fell like they were still with me, even if it was just their body.

06-21-2011 at 1:22 PM

@Titanic Quarter - IDK what your vet did but all the vet's I've worked for, the ones that weren't sent off for private cremation or the body retained by the owner were sent off for communal cremation, where they were cremated with a whole lot of other animals.

06-21-2011 at 8:30 AM

I'd go with taxidermy if it was a pet I really loved. If I could see them I'd fell like they were still with me, even if it was just their body.

06-10-2011 at 2:32 PM

@Inno - Our pet cemetery is local, so we can visit her grave anytime we want, thankfully. And it cost us about $250 to bury her. That included the "casket," grave site, and tombstone. It's basically like a human cemetery, but with people's pets instead. @Kandee - As I said to Inno, our pet cemetery is like a human one. They don't throw pets in a big hole. Each pet has its own grave site, for which I'm thankful for. I like knowing Maisy is being buried properly. :)

06-10-2011 at 11:13 AM

I personally will have my pets cremated. I have nothing against burial (I burried a few pets in my mom's back yard when i still lived with her) i just dont know where all ill be living in the next forever and want to take them with me. My dad was cremated and currently lives in a blown glass urn in my mom's living room. My step dad's parents were cremated and he wants to be cremated as well. @Reverie: If you vet took care of it then your pet was taken and communally cremated by what ever company the use for cremation and the ashes disposed of along with all the other pets that the owners didn't want the ashes back.

06-10-2011 at 8:07 AM

Taxidermy is a great way to go, if you can find a skilled taxidermist who is artistically competent. And as for a pet's dead body, it's more.. A dead pet's skin rather than a true body. Think of furs you've seen that are very intact. It's like that, but placed over a form. :) People who have trouble grieving seem to find them very comforting.

06-10-2011 at 4:43 AM

taxidermy kind of freaks me out. If my pet has died i don't like the idea of having to walk threw a house with the dead animal still in it, even if its had taxidermy done. My sister had her dog cremated. She has him next to the family pictures (none of witch he is in)

06-10-2011 at 3:30 AM

Well, I'd better start taking pictures of my pets, then. Because I respect any and all other ways of preserving the precious memories that you and your pet may have shared, but man, taxidermy is the way I'm going to have my pets preserved. The only thing that bugs me (other than the fact that my pet's body may not look like the pet itself) is that when I die I wonder what my kids will do with the taxidermied animal. Would they throw it out or stuff it in a closet because it's "weird"? Hopefully not, but then again I'm not really sure if taxidermied animals last for many generations.

06-10-2011 at 2:54 AM

A lot of people react even worse to human cremation, Roo, haha. With pets, they're so humanized it tends to give people the heebies. My aunt tried to give my parents some of my cousin's ashes, who had to.. flat refuse. Regarding taxidermy, which I was looking at as a profession until my hands went kinda screwy.. The big problem with it is <a href="http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Forms-C1.aspx">forms.</a> Taxidermists use a form beneath the skin to give the taxidermy its shape. They're generally very generic. With a pet, there's such an incredible amount of variation. You can't just slap a cat skin on a cat form and have it look like the original pet- I was intending to do pet taxidermy, actually. The trick is that you have to be able to sculpt, which I can. Photos provided, a good taxidermist looks at many, many photos of your pet and sculpts the way they would look without all that fur, including fatty deposits and the like. Then they insert a jawset if the mouth is open, which again, would have to be hand made to match up with your pets teeth. And then the eyes. These are the hardest part because there have to be insanely clear photos of the eyes so the taxidermist can paint blanks. Basically, a pet requires way, way more artistry than most taxidermists are used to dealing with, and there's so much potential for it to look slightly "off" and create an Uncanny Valley stuffed pet.

06-9-2011 at 11:14 PM

My second dog passed away recently, and we had her cremated, just like our first. We got her ashes back two days ago, and now they're next to my first dog's ashes on my dresser. I told my friend this, and she said "Remind me never to go into this room!" I don't know why it's so freaky that I have their ashes in urns on my dresser. I think about burying them, but I'd have to find a special place to do it...

06-9-2011 at 7:33 PM

I prefer cremation or burying the animal on my property One of my parent's friend's husband works for a pet crematory and took me to work one day, and seeing how things worked, cremation seemed more respectful even as when they buried the cats & dogs there they were simply thrown in a huge hole with tons of other dogs and cats. O.e

06-9-2011 at 6:58 PM

I looked at pet cemeteries a long time ago, but they're very expensive where I live. It's a great idea, I'd love to do that but the price and knowing my animals could be thousands of miles away from me just doesn't sit well with me. I'm kinda pet crazy myself.. I was also considering taxidermy, but it's near impossible to find a taxidermist that will do pets because so many things can go wrong within the process of skinning, tanning, and mounting. The best alternative to taxidermy if you really, really want to spend the money(and it'd actually be around the same price for traditional taxidermy) is to get your pets 'freeze dried'. It's safer and you don't have to deal with dangerous chemicals or anything of that sort that could damage the animal. But if it wasn't so expensive, I'd pick freeze drying. I don't like to picture of my pets rotting under or above ground. The only problem with having an 'above ground burial' is that you could be subjecting yourself and other creatures to unknown illness, rotting bodies are very unsanitary and harbor and invite things that one shouldn't come in contact with. The burning thing, I can understand that. But it's a body, not the soul of the animal. I think that's what I do to justify my wanting to cremate my animals. I can't seem to part with their bodies easily, even if I do think of the body as not holding the soul anymore. I don't know :/

06-9-2011 at 4:10 PM

Wow, I bet most people are going to freak once they see that you leave your animal's body out to feed the others. But that makes sense to me, because my animal came from nature, so I might as well give it back when it's time... but honestly, I'd really rather get my animals taxidermied... kinda like a stuffed animal.

06-9-2011 at 2:14 PM

When my pets die, I go out and dig a hole in the woods I live in, kinda near the house, and I bury them. Graves are marked with painted stones or wooden markers. If a pet is too large to bury without having to operate something dangerous like a backhoe (our soil is rocky), it's left out to feed and help the other animals. Last time this happened we got to see both turkey vultures and black vultures, which are wonderful animals. As far as my pets go, I don't like the idea of cremating them. I love my pets, but when they go, I know they're gone, and if they can help other animals, I think that's great. It doesn't just extend to pets. I want to donate my own body to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm">Body Farm</a>.

06-9-2011 at 1:50 PM

About 5 months ago, my dog died. We found a family that specializes in pet cemeteries, so we're having her buried there. Since she died in the winter, they're keeping her body frozen until the ground thaws, and I think sometime next week, they'll give us a call when they're ready to bury her so we can be there. She'll lay in a little "casket" of sorts with her favorite toys and such. They said the "casket" could be open so we could see her, but I'm not sure if I want to. I'm one of those people who doesn't like looking at dead bodies, animals or humans. I never saw my dog when she died (she got hit by a car). My mom took her to the garage and laid her in a box until we knew what we were going to do with her. But I couldn't bring myself to go out there and see her laying there, lifeless. I want to remember her as she was when she was alive, carefree and happy. So yes, I believe in burial. And this is the first pet that we've done this for. My cat that died was taken care of by our vet, and I've no idea what they did with her. I would've liked to have buried her as well, but I was so young back then, I probably didn't know pet cemeteries existed. As far as cremation goes, I'm not a huge fan of it. I wouldn't disagree with someone for choosing that option, though. It's just something I wouldn't do myself. I can't stand the thought of my loved one being burned to ashes, just as some people can't stand the thought of theirs being eaten by bugs in the ground. It's just a matter of how you look at it. I'd rather have my dog eaten by bugs than being burned. Sorry for being so blunt. It's just my opinion.

06-9-2011 at 4:48 AM

I would cremate personally, and purchase something to keep the ashes on that has an engraving in remembrance on it. I just can't stand the though of bugs eating away...

06-9-2011 at 4:32 AM

Well, I've only had two pets: a German Shepherd mix and an American Shorthair (both of which are still alive). But I always imagined that I'd get 'em taxidermied. I think I'd be able to remember them better if I saw their bodies as they were instead of a jar filled with ash. Yeah, I'd be the weird animal lady with dead amimals in my room. Every morning saying "Hello, honey. How'd you sleep last nigth? You want some food?" I'm just WAY too attached to my pets. It seems awful that your pets were almost not able to be saved.

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