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Sample Brochure - UC Davis

Honoring Your Pet

The death of a special pet is one of the hardest trials of life to cope with. Your pet has become a treasured member of your family during your time together. Deciding on a meaningful way to handle your pet's remains can help honor the special bond you shared with your pet and may help to ease your grief by bringing a sense of closure.

Your veterinarian understands the importance of memorializing you pet in a way which is as unique and personal as the relationship you shared with your pet. This guide is respectfully provided to acquaint you with a few of your options.

What are the Options?

Educational Memorial
There is nothing like caring for an aging or ailing pet to help owners appreciate a skillful and knowledgeable veterinarian. Your pets rely on your veterinarian's expertise and specialized training to keep them healthy and comfortable throughout their lifetime.

Some people wonder if it is possible to donate their pet's body for medical knowledge - a donation similar to the one we can make as people when we die. This type of donation is known here at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine as an educational memorial. This most honorable type of donation helps teach surgical skills to the next generation of veterinarians. Your deceased pet makes a tremendous contribution to learning by becoming a noble part of the educational process in this way.

The veterinary students benefitting from medical memorial donations are deeply grateful for this type of learning. People who make such thoughtful, personal contributions by donating their pets remains can be assured that the body of their deceased animal will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

Providing an educational memorial is truly a profound donation, for even after death, your pet can make a lifetime contribution to the education of a future skilled and compassionate veterinarian. Your veterinarian can help you make these arrangements or you can call (530)754-6166 for more information.

Diagnostic Necropsy
This option is more commonly known as an autopsy. Information gained from a post-mortem exam is valuable in determining the cause of death, furthers the understanding of disease, and helps us learn how to treat other animals with similar conditions. Veterinary students and residents learn from helping perform the post-mortem examination. After the post-mortem, bodies of companion animals are cremated. If the nature of your pet's death is in doubt, you can discuss this option with your veterinarian.

Cemetary Burial or Cremation
Area pet cemeteries provide services varying from communal burial or cremation to individual burial or cremation, with ashes returned to you if you so desire. Fees vary with services but generally run from $40-$150. Owners may need to contact the pet cemetary directly to arrange for the handling of the body, or owners may deliver their pet's body to to the cemetery. Your veterinarian may be able to provide you with a referral. You can also look for the listings of pet cemeteries in the yellow pages of your phone book.

Home Burial
Owners who wish to bury a deceased pet at home should consider that there may be public health regulations, or other local regulations, governing or prohibiting such burials. Check first with your local Public Health Office prior to burying your pet at home.

Leaving Your Pet's Remains with Your Veterinarian
If you are unable to make a decision about how to handle your pet's remains, your veterinarian can make arrangements. You may want to ask your veterinarian for more information about this.

If you need someone to talk with about the loss of your pet, your veterinarian may be of assistance. You can also call The Pet Loss Support Hotline (530) 752-4200 (calls are returned collect). Calls are received Monday through Friday 6:30 PM- 9:30 PM. The Hotline is staffed by people who understand that the end of a relationship with a beloved animal can be one of the most difficult times of your life.

This brochure was prepared by veterinary students affiliated with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Student Animal Welfare Committee.

 

For full brochure, contact ari@hsus.org