Aftercare Options and Memorials

When making decisions at the end of your pet’s life, it can be helpful to consider how you want to memorialize the bond you have shared with them. Every relationship is different. Depending on your own beliefs, your family’s feelings, and your past experiences, there are varied routes that may be the best for you. Learning about your options ahead of time can help decrease the burden of decisions when you want your focus to be on your pet. Similar to pre-planning funerals for our human family members, we can discuss and help you decide on your wishes for your pet’s remains at any point in their life. The two most common routes are cremation and home burial.

Cremation

This option is by far the most commonly chosen for many reasons. Some families would like to have a physical memorial of their pet in the form of an urn, while others chose to spread their pet’s ashes in a favorite place. Families can also choose cremation and elect not to get ashes back if that form of memorializing is not for them. There are three general types of cremation services available to choose from. This website connects you to the crematorium we work with. It explains the three different types of cremation options, Communal, Individual, and Private.

Home Burial

In Ada and Canyon Counties, there are no specific laws about burying deceased companion animals on private property. However, the following are recommendations for general animal burial and are law for large/farm animals. Keep in mind, when an animal is euthanized, the medications that were given remain in the body and are a potential danger to wildlife if not buried deep enough.

• Depth of at least 3 feet. This means at least three feet of dirt covering animal remains, which usually means digging a few feet deeper to be sure this is possible. This is the most important point to follow with any burial.
• At least 300 feet from wells, surface water intake structures, and drinking water supply lakes or springs;
• At least 300 feet from any residences;
• At least 50 feet from property lines;
• At least 100 feet from public roadways;
• At least 200 feet from any body of surface water (lake, river, stream, pond, etc.); and
• Not located in a low-lying area which may flood or in areas with a high water table where seasonal high water may contact the burial pit.

Memorials

There are many creative options to memorialize your pet. Various forms of art such as photos, portrait paintings, even tattoos are possible. If a paw or nose print is something you think you may want to use in another art form at some point, it is very important that we know this before the cremation step.

This website links to the memorial options with the crematorium we work with. It shows their available urns as well as paw or nose prints and jewelry. You can contact us or the company directly for prices.

They also have a technology called EverAfter Art that is artwork individually created from the crystal composition of the ashes formed during cremation.