Morbid Q - What do you do with The Body?

[Oberon]

I always maintained that I would have Obi individually cremated when his time came - but now I'm not so sure.

Can I justify this high cost when he is already gone?

I still want his method of PTS to be injection by our vet - that is my choice.

But what other options are there for a body after this?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

AFAIK, your choices are individual cremation/'group'cremation or burial at home, if you are not near a water course.

I can't personally see the point of individual cremation. I don't want the ashes back, it is simply the shell of the horse which has gone. Now if someone could get me the horse back.............

 

[Dizzydancer]

I always said i wanted my old boy cremated. However when time came i realised once he was gone that was it. We were going to bury him in his field at yard but due to not guaranteeing i would be at yard forever decided not to.
I let my lad go off once he was done. I don't no what went on after and don't want to in all honesty. But he wasn't my boy by that time.

 

[Polos Mum]

Your vet may well be able to recommend a local 'knackerman' to collect and do a joint cremation (with no ashes returned). There is still a cost (depends on size of the animal) but not as much as indivudal.

We had a 16.1 horse PTS by our local guy it was £160 (the cost is almost all disposal not the PTS itself), then we lost a pig (while the vet was here trying to save her) that was £80 for just disposal as she was a big girl (200kg).

Hope it's not something you have to worry about too soon!

 

[Curragh]

Hi, I asked the knackerman what happens to the bodies and he told me that the ones he deals with get boil/cooked. This apparently produces an oil which is used in Germany to power homes. Not sure if this is correct, but I'm ok with that idea.

 

[PorkChop]

I have always used the local hunt to both PTS and remove the body.

 

[CobsGalore]

I also didn't want to keep the ashes so didn't see the point in individual cremation. I had already said my goodbyes and had so many good memories of him, I don't think it mattered what happened to his body after he was gone.

I don't think knowing he was individually cremated would have made the grieving process any easier.

 

[Mongoose11]

See, I have no idea either. Having been there recently to see a lovely boy leave our yard I was certain that it was still him. It wasn't just a body, it was him. I guess I need to find out what happens to ashes if you don't get them back, I couldn't bare the ashes of fatties' body being thrown in a bin, yes it is ONLY her body but it is her body that carries my fat ass around, that I snuggle into crying, and love to scratch and fuss. I do think the body is important.

 

[Dusty85]

Hi, I asked the knackerman what happens to the bodies and he told me that the ones he deals with get boil/cooked. This apparently produces an oil which is used in Germany to power homes. Not sure if this is correct, but I'm ok with that idea.

How awful! I'd rather not have known that fact!

I've had a previous horse go to the local hunt- she had hunted with them all her life so it seemed appropriate. Its such a difficult- and very individual- choice.

 

[Wheels]

I buried my wee Shetland in the field but my big horse was too big really and the weather was awful and wet so not a suitable time to be digging the field so I had the local fallen stock company come to collect him.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Usually knackerman will despatch/collect from field for me if arranged.

I keep my memories, so do not want anything back & hard as it appears to some, my horse has already gone by then so thats all that happens.

Everyone is different Oberon, all doing what suits them best in their situation/finances
A friend had hers cremated on her own & then had a necklace made & some of the ashes were put into stones for her & she wears this almost daily.

 

[Zebedee]

Local hunt / knackerman will take the remains away and dispose of them , but will charge for doing so because of the drugs in the carcase. Still far cheaper than an individual cremation, and I think far more sensible.
FWIW some years ago I spent a fortune having a pony PTS by the vet, and then buried. It cost me a fortune, and has never made me feel any better about his passing. My first pony ended his days being shot by the vet and taken away by the knackerman. I lost a horse in a car accident that again was shot by a vet and removed by the knackerman. (Wish I hadn't written that know......was over 30yrs ago and the memory has just resurfaced as if it was yesterday), but my point is three losses, all in very different circumstances, and I get no consolation from the injection / burial scenario whatsoever - all three were dealt with swifty and kindly at the end. That's the part that matters, not what happens afterwards.

 

[PandorasJar]

I want shot by someone I know. Then, and a bit odd for some, but came out of a thread on here recently, I would like something done with their coat and would keep some tail.

Once the eyes fade the animal I knew and loved isn't there for me so the individual cremation has never appealed to me. I'd want them cremated and not buried though, but then I've always hated the idea of burial.

And only if I had the money as it's not cheap... I'd have the legs freeze dried and various sections opened and gift them to OHs dad as he uses things like that frequently when possible as a farrier but are hard to come by and I think quite fascinating.

To me keeping them alive in memory and use is more important than the shell.

 

[Curragh]

How awful! I'd rather not have known that fact!

Sorry I answered the question wrong, I thought the op wanted to know what happens once they are taken away and you don't go for cremation.

I don't think it's that bad, at least the body is going to some use.

 

[mandwhy]

How much does cremation cost? It sounds like a nice idea to do that, scatter the ashes and plant a tree or something. The burial idea sounds nice but in practise wouldn't it be a bit grim? I don't know I'm just not sure about the logistics of moving said body etc (slowly lowering a coffin is not really possible I guess) and I think there is something so hollow and er, lifeless, about a dead body that makes me want it to be gone as soon as it has happened. Even when burying past small pets they have been wrapped up in a blanket and I feel very upset if I catch a glimpse of their face :-(

I think I would probably rather them just be taken away, but I am not sure.

 

[ebonyallen]

I had my boys cremated and I did want an individual cremation, but I could not afford it, so I went for a mixed one instead, I know that there is a part of them there and that is fine with me.

 

[Polos Mum]

An individual cremation can easily be £600/800 - and there have been lots of scandels recently about whether people actually do what they say they will (not just horses but across lots of pets). So finding someone 'cheap' might not be a good thing.

 

[mynutmeg]

My tb was on loan when he broke 2 legs and had to be pts. A friend of the loaner offered a spot in her field so he was given a buriel. We put his rug on, bed of shavings down and his treatball in with him - would love to know what archeologists in several thousand years will think when they excavate the field. He's got company of about 10 others buried in that field.

My friend's horse was buried in a back field of the yard when he had to be pts

It was a JCB job to move the body and while I was there for my horse to be buried I highly recommend not watching them being moved because, as sensitive and careful as the driver was (and he was brilliant) it's not something you want to see, myself and the loaner walked off a little way while they moved him into the hole.

 

[Goldenstar]

The hunt will take them if you have a local hunt with a flesh house.

 

[Ditchjumper2]

We use local hunt too. Professional, quick and relatively cheap.

 

[Dusty85]

Mandwhy- We recently had a horse injure itself out hunting and sadly then had to be PTS- the family said their goodbyes then she was taken somewhere where accessing her afterwards wouldnt be a problem- (in this case the side of a field). Afterwards she was covered in tarpaulin, and then buried the next day using one of the farms tractors. Not the most gentle method but needed when they can weigh 500Kg!

 

[peanut]

Having had my beloved cat put to sleep after 18 1/2 wonderful years together (the love of my life), I've realised that once they are gone (and you only have to look at them when they are dead to know that the animal you once loved is not simply not there any more), for me it wouldn't really matter where the body went.

 

[Goldenstar]

The hunt will take them if you have a local hunt with a flesh house.

I like that I know what happened to them once they where taken away ,
I have been in the flesh house and seen horses there ( no one I knew luckily) there's a comfort in that for me in that.

 

[Dusty85]

And i couldnt agree more- if it were my horse- I wouldnt want to watch them being picked up and put in the hole by the machinery!

 

[zoon]

Mine was shot and went to howletts zoo to be fed to the carnivores. Tbh I wanted that - the body was just meat and I liked the idea of it being useful. It seems natural to me, although my mum was horrified. One of my previous horses was done by injection and therefore had to be cremated. I didn't have any ashes though, it was just a big communal furnace (is that the right word? Not sure what they're called!). For some reason I decided the needle was the best way for him, it is such an individual choice.

 

[Dusty85]

I work in the NHS- and its the same with people- once they die there is something that changes and they are not your family/friend/loved one anymore.

 

[Nicnac]

Always bury at home. I have a friendly man with a digger who managed to dig a hole big enough for my 600 kg friesian last year and transport her across the field to her grave. Only problem is that after a few weeks the body decomposes and the top sinks so quite a bit of topsoil is required to level off the grave when it's a big horse.

I like keeping their memories close and am lucky enough to have the land to do this.

 

[maxapple]

My old horse was pts by the vet (who is licensed to use the gun) and was then collected and taken to London zoo. It felt like the right thing to do in terms of the circle of life etc.

I don't think I could use the same method with my old boy now so would have to have him cremated I assume?

 

[atouchwild]

I recently lost one of mine to colic and the local knackerman came out (after the vet had PTS with injection - I would always prefer them to be shot but the vet was already there, and the poor lad was on the floor in agony) Apparantly Jack, like somebody has already said, basically went to be renewable energy, along with several sheep etc! Im of the opinion that it is just a body, I wouldnt want to have any ashes back, firdtly, I adore my horses, but it is just so expensive and I find it a bit eerie, and secondly, Im afraid no one can ever guarantee you're only getting your own horse back (or even getting any of your own horse!)
Disposing of a dead horse is never going to be dignified, wether they are winched onto a wagon, buried or whatever and there isnt really a nice way to do it. It's personal opinion, as is the whole injection vs shooting debate.

 

[peanut]

I work in the NHS- and its the same with people- once they die there is something that changes and they are not your family/friend/loved one anymore.

Yes, and it's hard to explain, but they just aren't there any more.