Would you ever preserve your dog after their passing?

[TheActuary]

Originally Posted by msvette2u

Yeah I saw the pic unfortunately.

But my point is that in Alaska, when guys kill game and have it skinned like that, they usually hang them on the wall, don't use 'em to walk on

PS. We had a Burmese python for a few years, her name was "Boots".

Gotcha... the only bear rug I've ever seen was in front of a fireplace. I guess it wasn't really walked on but it was a sort of foot rest.

[msvette2u]

Oh wow.
No, vet euth'ed animals also go to the rendering plant. Some vets charge extra for this, while others roll the fee into the euthanasia fee.

Except here (at our local plant) they've stopped accepting animals killed with sodium pentobarbitol.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by TheActuary

Is this true of pets who pass at the vet? It was my understanding that you could opt for a cremation where you kept the ashes or you could opt for a "group" cremation where you did not keep the ashes.

I thought that only happened to euthanized shelter animals? Maybe I'm wrong... but those were the two options I was given.

I'm not sure if ALL vets send the bodies to the local rendering plant, but it's fairly common practice. I think perhaps "communal cremation" is a euphemistic way of saying "rendering plant". Either way, it's recycling.

[mysweetkaos]

In answer to the question.....NO!! I did not look at the pic you posted, after reading other comments I figured it was a bit too early in the morning for that

My dad got called out to a house last week and happened upon something similiar. He said the homeowner welcomed him in...he started around the house, rounded the corner and in front of the window in the living room was a "sleeping" GSD. He found it odd that the homeowner didn't forewarn him....anyhow the homeowner entered the room and explained to him that the dog had been their pet for years and so they had him stuffed so he could always lay by the window which he always enjoyed

I have no doubt that I loved Kaos as much as it was possible to love a dog....but there is no way I would have him stuffed and laying around my house. Makes me a bit nauseous to think about actually.

[TheActuary]

I hope not. "Communal cremation" to me is not a euphemism for a rendering plant. I would feel mislead and lied to if that were the case.

[Narny]

We euthanize our own pets... we dont pay for the vet to do it. My husband and I both were raised with the mentality that a man (or woman.. I guess I would say, pet owner) takes care of his/her own in that way. Not judging those that dont just saying we dont do all of that with the vet. The bodies either go to animal control or they get placed in the back yard... normally though its animal control... I still have a hamster in my freezer that needs to be taken care of .

I had thought about cremating our dog and then keeping the ashes but my husband didnt want anything to do with that. He just wanted it to be out of sight out of mind. He really was heart broken when Bridgette had to be put down.

[msvette2u]

You're right, actually, in places there's no plants close (I'm sure) there is group cremation.
If I'm going to cremate my pet (or foster dog) though, I'm going to have it a separate cremation.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

I don't think I would stuff Sasha, and I certainly wouldn't turn her into a rug. That being said, I don't necessarily want to judge people that do. Everybody grieves differently. What might make my skin crawl might bring someone else some peace.

I am also of the belief that once one dies the body is just a shell, it's the reason I don't go to the cemetery to "pay my respects"; to me there's nobody there. So I guess having a stuffed Sasha probably wouldn't do me much good, as far as grieving or anything like that.

I think I would like to bury her myself, but that would of course depend on when she passes. If it's winter then that's not terribly feasible unless I use our Bobcat. I don't think I would keep her ashes if I had her cremated, but I guess I don't know. I'm glad I, hopefully, won't have to make that call for a long time.

[LaneyB]

We cremated our English Bulldog in December, and scattered her ashes on Christmas day in the back yard. I would not like to have a rug of her, that creeps me out. I agree that hanging the rug on the wall is better than putting it on the floor if somebody felt they had to make a rug out of their dead pet. And I wouldn't want to have stuffed her either, although she slept so much if she had been stuffed there wouldn't be much difference in her level of activity.

[Snickelfritz]

No, I would never make a rug or stuff my dogs or cats. That's disturbing.