Pets have been a core part of families across America for many years, and their presence in our lives continues to expand. In 2021, approximately 49.6 percent of all households had at least one pet, which is expected to continue growing. With the increase in beloved pets comes an increased need for quality pet care, including end-of-life services.

While cremation may not be a comfortable topic to discuss, public comprehension of the process is crucial to ensure respectful and reliable after-life care. Cremation has become one of the most common choices for grieving pet parents, with about 80% of people choosing to cremate their pets and about half of those individuals choosing private cremations. As the demand for pet cremation rises, there is a concern that the quality of these services may be compromised, primarily if a service is not affiliated with an accredited program.

The typical cremation process includes several steps, the first and most important of which is how a pet is packaged. After owners depart and a deceased pet is left in the care of a veterinary clinic, the pet must be securely packaged so it can be transported to a crematorium.

For security and sanitary measures, deceased pets are often placed in bags. While many owners will never see this part of the process, the type of bag used is essential. Trash bags may be an affordable and accessible option, but they lack the respect our loyal companions deserve and can cause issues in later cremation steps. Most people would be appalled to know a loved one was placed in a trash bag after passing, and this sentiment extends to pets. Our loyal companions deserve to be respected throughout their end-of-life services, and this respect starts with their preparation for transport. Specialty packaging, intended only for cremation, should be the service standard. Bags designed specifically for transporting deceased pets in a sanitary and dignified manner ensure more than comfort and cleanliness.

Cremation-specific bags prevent tragic accidents, such as lost ashes or receiving incorrect ashes. If trash bags are used, there is always the chance that a beloved pet may be accidentally discarded as trash or missed by a crematorium’s transportation team. Mistaken identity can also be prevented, as cremation-specific packaging can better ensure that a pet’s identity is not lost or confused with another pet at any point during their journey. Unlike a trash bag, cremation bags are designed to be fully sealed and marked with a pet’s identifying information.

The most reliable systems take the effort to match a pet’s identification information to ID numbers on that same pet’s packaging and a stainless steel coin. This coin goes through the entire cremation process and serves as insurance that a pet’s identity is never mistaken or lost.

Grieving the loss of a pet is often complicated and exhausting. Cremation services may not erase this pain, but they can give pet parents solace. This is especially true when precautions and genuine care are taken throughout the passing process, and it all starts with the quality of cremation packaging used.

Citations:

  1. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2022/demo/2021-household-pets.html
  2. https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/PetCremation?&hhsearchterms=%22pet%22
  3. https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2017-09-15/avma-providing-guidance-handling-pet-remains