Is it possible to bury animals in the yard? What to do if a pet dies, and how to bury animals correctly? Use of the territory of a private house

The issue of organizing the burial of pets is acute in Russia. In particular, this problem is relevant in Barnaul. Thousands of dogs and cats die every year in the capital of the Altai Territory. Read what to do and where to go if your pet died in our regular Question-Answer section."

What to do if your pet dies?

Only three methods of animal disposal are permitted. Only two of them are suitable for domestic animals: burning in crematoria ovens or disinfection in biothermal pits on the territory of cattle burial grounds, the so-called Beccari pits. If the animal dies, the veterinary service must be notified.

“Animal corpses are biological waste, and they must be destroyed in accordance with veterinary and sanitary rules. You need to understand why it died. Often people neglect to visit the veterinary service in such cases,” the head of the department of regional state veterinary supervision noted to the website portal Veterinary Department of the Altai Territory Andrey Mironov.

How are pets cremated?

In Barnaul, several private companies and veterinary clinics provide pet cremation services. Its cost starts from 2500 thousand rubles. The client pays separately for the cost of the urn for the ashes. Its price ranges from 450 to 8000 rubles.

There are two types of pet cremation. One of them is general cremation, when a large number of animals are burned simultaneously in a general manner. The ashes of all animals are subsequently disposed of; in this case, the owner will not be able to pick up the ashes of his own animal.

Another option for cremation is private. In this case, the body of only one animal is put on fire, and all this happens in high-temperature chambers designed for the cremation of one individual. This service is called veterinary. The ashes are returned to the pet owners in a special urn, which the owner can take with them and bury where they deem necessary, or keep it as a reminder of the pet. There are several companies in Barnaul that provide such services.

“People are afraid of being deceived and often talk about cases when their pets are not actually cremated and they pay money in vain. And indeed, in the city you can count on one hand the companies that actually provide this service. In our company, after concluding a contract, the animal is loaded into oven with the client. After cremation, the owner of the animal can take the urn with the ashes or refuse it. In case of refusal, the ashes are taken to a household waste site," Vetrituals LLC spoke about the transparency of the process.

Why can't you bury it?

The tradition of burying the body concerns only people. However, some pet owners prefer to bury their pets after their death in the forest, at their summer cottage or in the nearest park. Others don’t stop there and even install crosses and granite monuments on the graves of their former pets. Such a spontaneous pet cemetery has existed in Barnaul on the bypass road in the forest for several years now.

When a cat dies in winter, the owners naturally have a question about how to bury their pet. This is not only difficult from a moral point of view, but also threatens the owners with administrative fines if the burial was improperly organized and the grave was dug in the wrong place.

Not all cities have special cemeteries where you can bury a cat. To avoid problems and honorably send your pet on its last journey, you should know which places are allowed for burial of animals and what rules should be followed during burial.

How long do cats live and how do they age?

On average, cats live about 12 years, but there are also long-livers, whose age at the time of death is 18 – 20 years. This depends on the conditions of detention, the presence of a predisposition to various pathologies.

It often happens that due to illness or serious injury an animal has to be euthanized. Often cats die on the street due to public transport, during fights with other animals, or at the hands of people.

Aging begins in animals from 8 to 10 years of age. At this age, cats' metabolic processes in the body begin to gradually slow down. Pets become more predisposed to developing pathologies of internal organs, especially if at a younger age the care was poor and special attention was not paid to health.

After the death of an animal, the owners are faced with the acute question of how to bury the cat, since the law allows no more than a day for this. If there is an urgent need, you can give the body to a veterinary clinic for a short time, where they will help preserve it until burial.

By law, the death of a pet must be reported to the Veterinary Department of the city or district. Not all owners do this, since the cat’s body will have to be handed over for an autopsy and the funeral will be delayed; the official authorities will insist on cremation of the pet. As a rule, it is general, that is, a large number of pets are burned at one time, after which the ashes are disposed of. Individual cremation is performed extremely rarely; in this case, the owners receive an urn with the pet’s ashes and can bury it anywhere.

Usually, owners decide to bury the cat not far from home in order to visit and care for the grave more often.

Bury yourself or ask for help?

You can organize the funeral of a domestic cat yourself or use the services of specialized companies. They must have the appropriate license. Professionals will take care of the cremation of the animal, provide a place in a special cemetery, dig a grave and, at the request of the owners, install a slab or tombstone. The only difficulty is that scammers may try to profit from the grief of owners who have lost a pet, and instead of burying it in a special place, they will throw the animal into a landfill.

If you bury a cat yourself in winter, then one of the main problems is digging a grave. Its depth should start from 80 centimeters - this is a requirement of the sanitary and epidemiological service. Since the ground can freeze during the cold season, you need to prepare not only a shovel, but also a crowbar and a grinder for cutting the soil and crushing large layers.

How to honor your pet's memory without breaking laws. Is there a choice?

To avoid fines or destruction of the cat’s burial site, you need to know how and where exactly to bury your pet. The best place is outside the city, in a forest belt or on the river bank, where there are no walking paths. If you have your own garden plot, the task is simplified, since the pet can be buried as the owner sees fit.

As a rule, before burial the pet is placed in a special coffin or an ordinary box. It is recommended to pour bleach at the bottom; it will help stop the spread of pathogenic microorganisms. You can put your favorite toys, collar, and memorabilia with your pet. The grave must be deep enough to prevent wild animals from digging it up. The burial site can be marked with pebbles, a tombstone or monument can be brought and installed, but they should be inconspicuous to outsiders.

The question often arises whether it is possible to bury animals in a cemetery intended for people. This cannot be done for several reasons:

• this is prohibited by law, and the owner may receive an administrative fine;
• if the cemetery is attached to a church, then burying the animal is also prohibited for religious reasons.

If you decide to bury a cat in the country, you should do it in a secluded place, away from communications. Owners need to think about whether they can calmly visit their dacha and not worry every time they see the grave of their beloved pet.

Where should you not bury a cat?

To avoid problems with government officials, neighbors and just strangers, it is important to know where exactly and how to bury a cat correctly. By law, burials are prohibited near apartment buildings, as well as in human cemeteries. In addition, the law provides for the burial of cremated remains, otherwise problems with sanitary services may arise.

The funeral of a cat should be organized in a deserted place, preferably outside the city or on your own plot. If your city has a pet cemetery, you should use it.

The death of a pet is a great emotional stress. In order not to aggravate your own depressed state, you should adhere to the rules of burial as best as possible and choose legally permitted places for this. Then you can be sure that the grave will remain intact for many years, and the owners will have the opportunity to calmly visit their deceased pet.

We really want them to live as long as possible, but that day inevitably comes. And, despite the emotions tearing at your soul, you have to decide - where to bury the dog in order to say goodbye to your four-legged friend with dignity? After all, a loving owner will not even allow the thought of getting rid of the remains without proper ceremonies.

In the civilized world, special places are allocated for the burial of animals, away from residential areas, sewers and public parks. Everything is very dignified, beautiful and neat - clean lawns, fences, tombstones. The owner can come to the grave at any time, bring flowers, talk with a departed friend, and pour out his soul. We are far from civilization in this regard - space in a pet cemetery costs a lot of money, and cemeteries themselves are sorely lacking. There are special burial places only in large cities; you can find out the address at the city information desk or at any veterinary clinic.

Without relying on the authorities, people themselves organize a final shelter for their pets. Typically, unofficial cemeteries are located in the countryside or in a suburban forest, far from paths and resting places for barbecue makers. Often owners, who still have many happy years ahead with their four-legged friend, learn about cemeteries by chance, while walking - they see signs on the trees and mounds at the foot of the pine trees. You can ask walking dog walkers. Of course, from the point of view of the law, burying a dog in such a place is not entirely correct, but what to do if the authorities do not provide another option?

Read also: Can dogs have milk - arguments and facts on a controversial issue

You need to dig deep into the forest soil, otherwise the grave will be dug up by animals or washed away by rain. No one has the right to advise anything regarding burial. Everyone does as they see fit: buys or knocks together a coffin, wraps the remains in a shroud or puts them in a box, or even simply puts them in a grave. Whether to designate a burial site is also a personal matter. If you don’t want to hang a sign or put up a tombstone, you can plant a fragrant lilac or a beautiful tree nearby in memory of a departed friend.

Cremation

Not everyone lives near a forest. And digging in winter is also not always possible - the ground freezes so much that you have to work with a crowbar. Of course, you can contact a private company providing funeral services. If this option is not acceptable, cremation remains.

The remains of animals are cremated individually or collectively, at the owner's discretion. The cost and procedure for the procedure will be explained at the veterinary clinic - even if this clinic does not provide such services, the doctor will probably tell you the necessary phone number. Owners deeply affected by the death of a pet are more likely to choose individual cremation arrangements. The remains are burned in a furnace and the ashes are returned. Some people keep it at home in an urn, others scatter it in a memorial place. If you wish, you can order a video recording of the process or attend the cremation in person.

The death of a four-legged friend is a difficult event. There are still many tears, worries and sadness ahead; you will have to go through pain. But the owner inevitably faces a pressing question: how to bury a cat? The last tribute of respect and love to the departed pet deserves special attention.

Even the ancient Egyptians knew how to properly bury a cat or other animal. Being profoundly ignorant by modern standards, they realized that the rotting remains posed a danger to people. Unfortunately, today many people are less responsible about the issue of disposal of remains, without thinking that their actions harm the environment.

Near Murmansk, in one of the copses, residents organized a pet cemetery. Everything is clean and civilized - fences, tombstones, even crosses can be seen here and there. On one of the monuments there is a touching inscription: “Joker, forgive us”... The entire local population knows where to bury a cat or dog. There are official pet cemeteries in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and other large cities.

But there are no more than two dozen such cemeteries throughout Russia. For people living far from places allocated for the burial of animals, the funeral of a cat becomes a real problem, because a loving owner would never take the remains of a pet to the nearest trash heap. Burying animals near populated areas is strictly prohibited at the legislative level. It’s good if there is a real forest near the city - then the question “where to bury the cat”, as a rule, does not arise. But parks, squares, and especially courtyards are absolutely not suitable for this purpose. It's hard to think about, but the carcasses of domestic animals decompose, poisoning the soil and groundwater. Many pets die from infectious diseases - a cat’s grave not far from home can cause an epidemic among animals or people.

A veterinarian talks about how to properly bury a cat on your own. Ilyin M.V.:

“You can only organize a grave in a real forest, far from the city. To prevent the remains from being damaged by wild animals, a hole is dug one and a half to two meters deep. If desired, the remains are placed in a box or makeshift coffin. In my opinion, the best option is cremation of cats and dogs, but not everyone’s budget allows it, unfortunately. I know that many people bury animals in the family plot of the cemetery. This is a kind of consolation for them. The thought that one day they will be close to their loved ones helps them cope with grief. But when people ask me the question “how to bury a cat,” I rarely advise this, since it contradicts the religious canons and ethical considerations of most owners.”

Cremation is certainly one of the best ways to say goodbye to a pet. Today, most veterinary clinics provide this service. In municipal clinics, cat cremation is the joint disposal of the corpses of deceased animals by burning in an oven. The owner pays for the service, leaves the remains to the doctors and leaves - this is where the farewell ends. Doctors at private clinics provide the opportunity to cremate a cat in a slightly different way, on an individual basis. If desired, the owner can be present at all stages of cremation and pick up the pet’s ashes, placed in a special urn. If there is no opportunity or desire to observe the procedure, the owners are provided with a video recording as proof that the remains of their four-legged friend were indeed burned. Where to cremate a cat, in the crematorium of a private clinic or in a public oven, is, of course, up to the owner to decide. Both methods are more worthy of disposing of corpses by throwing them into the garbage chute...

Compared to humans, the life of an animal is short and fleeting (we do not take into account turtles, killer whales and parrots). The average hamster lasts for a couple of years, a dog for about a dozen, and cats for longer. But sooner or later you will have to face the inevitability - the death of your beloved pet is inevitable, as is the subsequent search for a place of final rest. “MK-Estonia” found out what opportunities there are in this regard, and what is strictly forbidden to do.

People often try to decide their “afterlife” fate in advance: they save money for funerals, try to buy a place in the cemetery. In general, they do everything not to be caught by surprise. Whereas for many animal owners, the death of a pet is sometimes very unexpected. And the confusion begins: where, when, how, how much will it cost?
“Our dog died quite suddenly,” Elena recalls. “She was already old, had a bunch of old-age ailments, but she held up well, we thought she would definitely last a couple of years. And one morning the pet came home from a walk, lost consciousness, and began to choke. We urgently called our veterinarian, who had been caring for her for many years, but he just threw up his hands - heart, pulmonary edema, this is a death sentence.”

The family suddenly lost a devoted friend, and a completely unexpected question arose: how and where to bury their pet?

“The doctor recommended a pet cemetery, it’s on the land of a private farm near Tallinn,” says Elena. - We didn’t have crematoria then. We buried Desi there. Sometimes we go to see her, it’s time to renew the contract, by the way - for another five years.”

It seems there is, but it seems not

Oddly enough, there are no official cemeteries for pets in the country that are owned by the state or municipality. There are those located on private land, and not so many: in Jõelähtme, in Põltsamaa, in Rakvere and near Valga. And this brings certain problems, which will be discussed below.

“Do you want to see what remains? Well look. Here, here are the ashes of a small dog - they show me an ordinary glass transparent sugar bowl with light gray ashes. - Ashes make up approximately 5–7% of the animal's weight. This is quite a bit, so there are no problems with storing it: if you want, bury it in the garden, if you want, spread it over the sea, plant a tree on it - many owners choose different options.”

But first there is fire. “This is a very specific job, because we constantly see people’s grief,” says Maxim Sennikov. “Sometimes it seems like people aren’t mourned like that.” When you see grown men crying... It’s hard. But it's work."

Almost all domestic animals can be cremated, with the possible exception of horses.

“We even cremated a little crow,” recalls Maxim. - A couple came and brought a chick. They both cried. It turned out that he fell out of the nest on the day of their first date, they picked up the baby and nursed him as best they could, but alas. And once they brought a purebred goat - he didn’t share something with a friend, he was gored to death. For the owners, their animal is like a child, no matter whether it is a rabbit or a goat - they try to bury them humanely. It is important".

Maxim recalls how a man came to them a few years ago. I studied the oven very meticulously, how the ceremony was going, whether it was possible to say goodbye - all the ins and outs. “And then he brought his shepherd, who died... a year ago,” says a Cremo Center representative. - He was looking for a suitable crematorium for her all this time! All over Estonia, Finland - and there this business is very developed. But everywhere he was not satisfied with the size of the ovens and other nuances.”
Another story is how a dead rabbit was transported 500 km to be cremated here: “The owner spent all these hours with us. I was waiting for my friend..."

Whose ashes?

Nuances are something that almost all pet owners fear. The most common question in any crematorium: are you really cremating our pet and not throwing it away in a container? Is it true that these will be the ashes of our parrot, and not rubbish from the street?

Unfortunately, not all crematoria provide the opportunity to trace the process from start to finish, and the tradition of cremation has not yet taken root among the population, and many believe that they can be deceived in such a delicate matter. But if you are not afraid to ask, you can find a place where you will be with your pet until the very last seconds. They will close the oven in front of you and press a button.

“Of course, not a single crematorium will show what is happening in the oven. Old models had viewing windows, but believe me, this is not the kind of sight that people need, says Maxim Sennikov. - Even experienced workers began to have mental problems. The operating temperature of the oven is 800 degrees, it’s better not to know what’s going on there. Modern equipment has a technological window, but only staff use it. Believe me, the owner of a deceased animal already has enough stress. We always have ammonia and valerian in our office. But God be with her, with the stove, something else is important. It’s important for people to see that everything is fair.”

Cremation is not a quick process. The technological cycle is at least four hours - during this time everything burns, and the ashes are then filtered. And sometimes curious things are found.

“The metal plaques of the collars and prostheses do not burn out, we give them away,” says Maxim. - Once, the owner, to test us, quietly hid coins on the body of his dog. Well... After the cremation, we gave him the coins along with the urn. Every single one of them.”

Animal ashes are also a sensitive topic. You need to decide whether you want to pick it up, and if so, where and how you will store it. Crematoria offer a wide range of urns - from simple ceramic ones to medallions.

“By the way, these urn medallions are a very popular thing,” says Maxim. “Literally a gram of ashes is poured there, and you get a memorable decoration.” There are also wooden urns, stone ones - it depends on taste.”

In quiet company

Not everyone has the money or opportunity for an individual burial. Some people don't want to take their pet's ashes. There are also opportunities for such people. Cemeteries offer mass graves, crematoria dispose of ashes according to established standards.

“Previously it was possible to dispel, but now the new ones are standard, everything must be disposed of according to the rules,” says Maxim. - But there is zero logic in this - the owner is allowed to do whatever he wants with the ashes: at least store it, at least throw it away. But we don’t.”