But what about animals left decomposing on open ground, roadways, highways, in open pits, ditches, water, and sinkholes. These are the same locations where you and I live and work, they are our communities.

This is not only illegal in many areas but poses significant hazards including the spread of disease; negative effects on water quality; odor, flies, and other insects; scavengers; rodents; and negative public reaction. Similarly, some have burned remains openly on piles (or pyres) which may have not resulted in adequate handling of the remains; this is dependent upon weather conditions; produces air pollution, and may violate standards for air, water, and soil quality; which poses a risk of fire spread; may be offensive to spectators and may be illegal except in emergency situations. Cremation preserves the memory of the animal in a more decent way, provides thorough handing of remains, and protects our community's environment from potential disease.

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Alabama has a total of 173 operational landfills, more than three times as many as New York, a state with a population four times greater but with just 54 dumps. California – three times larger than Alabama and containing eight people for every Alabamian – has just a handful more landfills than the southern state. Each year, Alabama deceased cats and dogs, whether strays and/or lost pets meet their end-of-life journey only to be buried in these Landfills. They are buried mixed with anything from human feces, trash, waste, sludge, asbestos, and an assortment of other animal carcasses, in local landfills, one reported accepting carcasses for the price of $13, which is equal to lunch. Some landfills have no records of the number of animals that are dumped and buried along with other trash. The (EPA) Environmental Protection Agency maintains practices that help reduce odor, control litter, insects, and rodents, and protect public health, but no unadopted cat or dog (Kill shelter), stray, or lost a deceased pet should be placed in a landfill. You may have experienced accidentally hitting a cat or dog causing death or passed by a deceased animal hit by a car placed to the side of the road. To ignore an incident such as this does not mean it now does not exist. But in the back of your mind, it's one question that lingers, what could I could have done, instead of letting him/her lay there being run continuously by cars or decaying.

 

RESCUES 85 with the help of community reporting, a software system, and a partnering Family Pet funeral home is working to change this from occurring. By community support and reporting along with our searching routes for unreported animals. we can locate, microchip scan, log each animal found, location, breed, injuries, approximate age, type, etc, and a partnership with a pet funeral home to provide a more respectful burial service. This service also prevents the possible spread of disease from decaying animals left in neighborhoods, and within landfills and dumping stations. Strays found that are no longer with us are provided burial services, given a name, as no one should be buried without a name, and a paw print is preserved in memory of the fallen who never had a home. If the owner of a pet is found, we notify the family of our findings and offer grief counseling, as the loss of a family member (pet) can be a devastating experience. Again a paw print is preserved in a plaster cast, for the deceased cat or dog with their name in memory.  First Furbaby that started our stand for proper burials. Diamond (Deceased: Cause of death: Starvation Age 8 months, Female puppy, location covered in beer bottles and trash), Found on 84th and 3rd Birmingham, Alabama, burial services provided the same day discovered, Mittens. (Deceased: Cause of death: Car Accident, Male Cat), reported by a community neighbor, burial services were provided the same day reported.

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Environmental Safety

There are (2) two options we look at in handling the remains of animals:

• Burial/Landfill or

• Cremation is growing in acceptance among pet owners who increasingly view their animals as family members. Owners may request that their animal be cremated separately so that they may retain all or a portion of their animal’s remains.

Learn More About Landfill Burials