I don't know what to make of this????

[smokey the elder]

When I had a cat cremated for the first time, I went myself instead of having the vet do it. I was allowed to witness her being placed by herself in the chamber. This was at the oldest pet cemetary in the country, so I trust them.

[Asiel]

I could never do that to one of my best furry friends, a bit too morbid for my taste. Cremation would be nice but no one does it here so we take our pets home and have our own little cemetery .. living on acreage does have advantages. If we were in town this wouldn't be permited.

[Alysser]

WOW does that ever creep me out. I think it's morbid. Not to mention, that's not how I want to remember my pet...a statue of some sort?? I'd rather remember him/her romping, playing and BREATHING. Not my idea of a nice memorial.

When Sassy died, my parents refused to bury her in the yard. We have done that with smaller pets including Star, but Sassy was different. She was cremated at some place in PA, I don't remember the name but it is also a big pet cemetery if you wanted to do that! You were able to choose if you wanted a mass cremation, private cremation, or some other options. I don't recall much but the mass one was cheaper. You were allowed to attend the cremation, bring the body, or buy a video of it for free. I personally don't think I'd be able to watch that. We did the private cremation and got her back in a very timely manner. I wanted to scatter the ashes at her favorite spot but we kept some and scattered a little bit.

I am SURE there are some dishonest places, but they would be found out. And when you're dealing in the business of death if you're being dishonest, I can bet you don't last long. Death is something so personal to some people that they will not stand for lies and dishonesty about cremation, burial, etc. I know from experience.

Anyway, when I was a kid we used to got to my Great Uncles house in Upstate NY and his hobby was taxidermy. He ordered dead birds (his specialty) off random websites and catalogs and they were sent to his house and he'd do it himself in his basement. It was pretty cool, other than the eerie feeling of the eyes watching you. He had HUNDREDS of birds from all over the world and they were very well done. He was a big time hunter to and had deer heads all over his house. When he died his collection got sent to a museum. While I guess that is different to me, still creeps me out all the same. A pet is a pet, it's not like you ever owned the wild animal.

JMHO, of course.

Asiel, I think my only qualm with burial really is that if you were to move you can't take them with you. Maybe that seems weird..but I'd always want them. The ashes are nice in that respect. I'm not quite sure of the legality of it here. I live on .25 acres right now (unfortunately), so I'd assume it wasn't legal.