Offering pet owners an eco-friendly alternative to pet cremation

WEST VALLEY CITY, UT (ABC4) – Pets come in all shapes and sizes. From big conversational huskies who need to make their opinions known to small, careful cats whose ears can never be scratched enough. Everyone has a family to call their own, and while owning a pet is full of cuddles, kisses and puddles of slobber; at some point his time will come to an end.

Losing a pet is undoubtedly one of the hardest things anyone can go through, deciding what to do next is even harder.

Saying goodbye doesn’t have to be a forever thing, in the opinion of a Utah company. Protecting the legacy of your pets, the grieving process, and helping the environment through the power of water is the mission of Utah Pet Aquamation.

“Pet aquamation is alkaline hydrolysis which is essentially water cremation,” said Merritt Rinard, owner and founder of Utah Pet Aquamation.

A process said to mimic nature using a combination of heat, water and alkali; Bathing returns your pet to its natural elements.

The animals are placed in a water machine with an alkaline element – Rinard uses salt in the form of potassium hydroxide – then a stream of fresh water is introduced through the machine.

“It is the rhythm of a stream or a creek, and that breaks the organic tissue. And what remains are the bones, the mineral remains,” explains Rinard. “Those are dry in the course of a couple of days. And then they are turned into ash.”

The process, which takes between 20-24 hours, according to Rinard, emits no greenhouse gases and is low energy, leaving a tenth of the carbon footprint of a standard flame cremation. Using this process also gives pet owners about 20% more of their pets. A percentage that can make a big difference with smaller animals.

“We can make any kind of animal,” said Rinard. “Some operators have made snakes and goldfish until people have aquamarine tigers.”

Utah Pet Aquamation officially opened its doors in July of this year, but the journey to that point began years earlier.

“Almost two and a half years ago, my dog ​​Trapper, who was six years old at the time, was diagnosed with stage four kidney disease,” Rinard recalled.

She says the reality of Trapper’s diagnosis hit her hard and in preparation she began looking for a way to preserve her memory.

“I knew about aquamation from a friend in Austin, and I started looking around the area to find an aquamation facility. And I quickly realized that no one was offering this in the Salt Lake area.”

From there, inspiration struck. She decided if she couldn’t do this for Trapper, she would make sure the others after him had the chance.

“I had a bit of soul searching, honestly, to decide if it was something that I could deal with emotionally. And I feel that it is a really important option. So, I decided to take this leap of faith and open the facility” .

Since the beginning of his journey, Rinard has helped owners find a new way to honor their pets, including one woman who was grieving the loss of her beloved dog, Curry.

“This summer, we were in the process of moving here to Utah, and just very busy with everything that followed that, and so I probably missed a lot of the signs that would have told me to take him to a vet much sooner. “, said Natasha Bottari, whose German shepherd was sick. “I took him to a doctor, and he was in massive kidney failure.”

Because of Curry’s quick passing, Bottari says she hadn’t even considered what steps to take next and wasn’t sure what to do. Bottari’s vet suggested aquamation.

“When we put him to sleep, the vet came to our house, and I was just undecided about what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to be cremated. I couldn’t imagine this,” she said. “I’ve never heard of aquamation, I didn’t know anything about it. So I went online and I started researching, Google, and that was probably the most comforting path for me.”

As an animal parent, Rinard says she understands the impossible but inevitable battle many are facing, and while she can’t take away the pain, she says she’s waiting with open arms to help make the grieving process a little less hard.

“You know, I’ve been there personally, and I know what it feels like to lose a pet. So, you know, I want people to feel comfortable to come to me and give their pet,” Rinard tells. “And, you know, I’ll treat them like one of my own.”