On the eve of Pet Remembrance Day this Friday (5th July), 3D pet memorial creators Arty Lobster have launched a Change.org petition to call on the Government to more tightly regulate the pet cremation industry.
The petition calls on the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that pets’ ashes are not mixed with the remains of other animals and labelled ‘one-pet’ cremations.
This is because individual pet cremations mean one pet one chamber and ensure the owner will only receive their own pet’s ashes. Alarmingly, some crematoria still use divided or tray style cremations and pass them off as individual. There are also ‘communal’ crematoria, which are lots of remains mixed in together.
Pet remains still classed as ‘waste’…
To add insult to injury, pet remains are still classed as ‘waste’ and, in many cases, controlled under waste management licencing. This fact alone ignores the reality that many people now regard their pets as family members.
Lars B. Andersen, CEO of London-based company Arty Lobster (https://artylobster.com) that creates 3D pet sculptures for the memorial market, and as gifts for pet lovers, said: “We launched Pet Remembrance Day back in 2015 to celebrate the lives of our beloved deceased companion animals.
“The national day, which is celebrated on 5th July, attracts a large support base, and many people use it as a special day to commemorate a lost pet.
“It’s a disgrace that, unbeknownst to the grieving pet owner, the remains of a beloved pet are sometimes mixed with the remains of other pets. This should not be happening, especially when pets are now regarded as important members of the family.”
Regulatory body The Association of Private Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria (APPCC), which operates a voluntary registration scheme, states: “Pet crematoria are controlled under the Animal By-Product Regulations and, in some areas, Waste Management Licensing. This has caused us many difficulties in the past but with the help of the Environment Agency and Defra we have carved out our own niche within the regulations that allows us to operate as genuine pet bereavement facilities. However, the regulations are designed for waste. This allows any disposal operation to gloss up their services and call themselves by any number of tempting and appealing names.
“Licensing for Pet Crematoria and Cemeteries is only concerned with the operation as a disposal site. There are no regulations controlling how the cremations should be carried out to ensure the correct ashes are collected, for the dignified handling of the animals or to distinguish between ashes going to a normal disposal site or to a specific memorial area. The standards set by the Association are the only ones that provide this distinction.”
To sign the petition, visit: http://chng.it/9SvjC5spKV