Who can arrange or perform my pet's cremation?

You have two choices:

Direct pet cremation provider is a person or company you can contact directly. They perform pet cremations at their own crematory, and make arrangements and collect payment directly from you the owner of the pet.

A direct service provider should have an open-door policy and allow you to visit their facility and be present when your pet's cremation is being performed, and they should be able to answer any questions you might have about this service.

A direct service provider should also provide you with a copy of a full disclosure agreement. This will define the type of cremation that will be provided, and also give you other important information such as time and date your pet's body will be picked up, the time and date the cremation will actually take place, and when the cremated remains will be available for pickup or delivery to the family. The cost for the pickup service, the cost for the actual cremation, and the cost for delivery of cremated remains back to the family should be clearly stated in the agreement. This agreement should also be signed and dated by a representative of the company who will be performing the cremation of your pet.

Third-party pet cremation provider is a person or company who owns the crematories and performs pet cremation, but has no contact with the family of the pet. The cremations are actually arranged by a third party agent (usually a veterinarian) who will hold the pet's body at their facility for several days or weeks until the cremation provider makes their scheduled round to pick up the bodies of deceased pets and also the veterinarian’s medical waste. These third-party providers can provide pickup services for as few as 50 or as many as 600 veterinarians or hospitals in multiple states, which means they are cremating hundreds, in most cases, thousands of pets per week.

Third-party pet cremation agent is a company or person (usually a veterinarian) who works as an agent for the third-party cremation provider. Their job is to determine the type of cremation the pet owner wants and collect payment for the cremation and hold the pet's body in a freezer until they are picked up on the providers scheduled rounds. This has become a lucrative profit center for Veterinarians, and they have shown little interest in protecting or guaranteeing the integrity of the service provided to the pet owner. The third party agent has no way of knowing how the pet was handled or if the cremation was performed properly or at all, once the pet leaves their facility.

It is important that you are given a full disclosure agreement form from the arranging agent or the direct service provider for any and all services that you have requested. Without this documentation there is no guarantee you'll receive the service you request.