We have a rescue mutt who’s getting up there in age. She’ll be 10 this summer. I have this irrational (maybe not so irrational) fear that she will die at home. I’ve not had a dog that I haven’t had to put down, and I wouldn’t know what to do in that instance.
Comments
Call your vet. They can arrange for pickup/cremation/etc.
Call you vet and they’ll have resources for you.
Or, if you live in an area that allows it, bury your dog yourself if you want.
It’s not a silly question at all. Both my dogs died peacefully at home from old age in their favourite spots. In my instance I called the vet/ 24 hour vet who coordinated for them to be cremated both had great recommendations for services (different states), they were beyond amazing, empathetic and looked after our beautiful fur babies.
It can vary a lot.
Generally, you always have the option to contact a vet and ask them to dispose of the remains for you. You can bypass the vet and find a crematorium or pet graveyard if you want, and have them dispose of the remains.
You would usually bring them the remains, but you can possibly pay them extra to arrange pickup.
In a lot of areas, you can bury the pet in your own yard – if you own the land. You may need to be aware of utilities, which might require a “call before you dig” contact.
In some areas (cities) you can dispose of the animal’s remains with the trash pickup. In NYC, you can put the animal in a heavy trash bag and put it out with regular trash:
>You can dispose of a dead animal by placing it in a sealed heavy-duty black plastic bag and/or double plastic bag and setting it out for collection with your household trash. You must tape a note to the bag stating its contents (“dead dog” or “dead cat”).
Marking it makes it easier to identify as animal remains and not evidence of abuse or other criminal activity.
If the animal is small enough and you need to wait, then you can put the animal into a bag/double bag and place the remains in your freezer or into a cooler so you don’t deal with decomposition while you wait to resolve things.
One dreaded day years ago we came home to find our female dead, we left the house at 8:30 am and my wife arrived home herself alone at about 4 pm.
I got the phone call from my wife crying so I left work immediately on my motorcycle and arrived through the front door 20 minutes later.
Upon arrival I found my wife on the floor crying so I picked her up and said, “let’s go!” Picked the dog’s stiff body up, put it in the trunk of our car and drove to the Vets office and dropped the poor dead dog off. We estimate the dog was dead 7 hours before someone arrived home.
The entire thought of that day sucks especially the memory of the dog licking my bald head the night before.
I had that happen with my last dog. I called the vet and a friend came over to help me move his body into my vehicle. We took him to the vet for cremation.
Vets usually offer disposal services. Wrap your pet up in a blanket and go from there. They can and will leak urine or feces though.
Bury it in the back yard.
Bury them and never forget the memories you built together.
The ranger came and took my dog to the cremation services.
I don’t mean to sound insensitive, as I’m saying this as someone who has over a decade in vetmed experience , if it happens to happen at a time where your provider is not open: try and store in a freezer/deep freeze if at all possible, to prevent decay and further predators. I think it’s good, and responsible, to be prepared and be thinking of these scenarios before they happen, so good on you.
When my Cat passed away at home, I took her to the Emergency Vet (Because it happened later in the evening) once they confirmed she was gone I was directed to the proper services. I assume a Dog would result in a similar situation. Of course this depends on where you live and how viable a nearby emergency vet would be.
I have 25 years of family pets buried in my back yard, so…that’s what we do.
Get a shovel and dig a hole.
Not a dog, but my cat passed away at home and we took her to a local pet cremation business. We didn’t want to take her to the vet after passing, it just felt strange to me because she always hated it so much. Maybe look to see if your area has something like that?
Personally, I call a pet cremation service and they pick up my pet. I pay a fee for them to cremate the remains and bring them back to me in an urn.
When the vet put my dog down, it was at home, and it was on Sunday, like at 6 pm. but the cremation place was open 24 hours as long as you called them and let them know to meet you. Maybe your local place does, too. Maybe just check around for peace of mind.