What will my pet be returned in?

When your pet passes away at home and you are interested in having them cremated you have two options for final pet care.  You may take your pet to your local Veterinary Hospital and arrange for them to be cremated.  You may also contact me directly to arrange for pet cremation.

When it is time to euthanize your pet you may have your Veterinarian arrange for cremation through their office, or you may ask for your pet to be returned to you so that you may personally bring your pet to me and arrange for pet cremation. Please call ahead so that I can set an appointment and be prepared for your arrival. 

If it is too difficult to move your pet, or if you are unable to drive, I will come to your home and provide compassionate care for your pet while removing them from your home and in arranging for pet cremation.  If your pet is an extra-large breed and assistance is needed in moving them, Paw Prints on Woodland will provide additional help. I proudly serve the White Mountains and surrounding areas, please take a look at the link below for a list of locations and cost.  If you don't see your home listed, please call to inquire. 

Cost is based on two variables: type of cremation and weight of pet. Take a look at the 'Services and Pricing' page to get a better idea of which type of cremation you would prefer.  Memorial items are available for purchase in addition to your cremation services such as urns, burial markers, and jewelry.  

Paw Prints on Woodland can cremate any size pet from a beautifully colored finch or a super scaly bearded dragon to a full-size milk goat or a baby foal.  The weight capacity for our equipment is 300 pounds.  Very tiny pets are cremated inside a stainless steel or cast-iron pan and processed by hand to preserve as much of the remains as possible.  

This may seem like an interesting question, but when you are preparing for the time when your pet will cross over the Rainbow Bridge, you need to know your rights.  Since Paw Prints on Woodland opened its doors in 2020 there have been options on the mountain for pet cremation services.  If you aren't sure who your veterinary office uses for cremation services, it is your right to ask.  You deserve to know where your pet will be taken and who will be handling them before you agree to sign custody over to a cremation facility.  If you are uncomfortable with whom your veterinary office partners, it is okay to request another service.  It is your pet and only you can decide who provides their final care.

When a pet passes away, either at home or is euthanized in a Veterinary office and arrangements for cremation have been made you may bring your pet to our facility, I may pick up your pet at your Veterinary office, or I may pick up your pet in your home.  After receiving your pet, they are properly stored at my facility until their remains are cremated in a 'retort' or cremation chamber within 7 days of receipt.  Upon completion of cremation the ashes will be returned to you in a wooden 'Tree of Life' urn or scattered by me on a beautiful horse ranch in Linden, Arizona.

I use a multistep identification process to make sure that the ashes you receive belong to your pet.  Before I take custody of your pet from a Veterinary office, the Veterinary staff is required to complete paperwork and tag all transport bags with a 'Paw Tag'.  When your pet is picked up in home or brought to our facility, I complete paperwork with you and create a 'Paw Tag' for your pet's transport bag.  Prior to cremation, all paperwork and 'Paw Tags' are matched, and each pet is given a stainless-steel identification tag with an identification number on it.  This identification number is written on the matching 'Paw Tag' and on the paperwork.  The stainless-steel tag is placed in the cremator with your pet's remains while the 'Paw Tag' is used to map your pet's placement within the cremation chamber.  Upon removal of the cremated remains from the 'retort', the stainless-steel identification tag and the 'Paw Tag' are matched, and the 'Paw Tag' is placed with the remains throughout the remainder of the cremation process.  When the process is complete, the stainless still tag and 'Paw Tag' are tied to the cremains bag and placed inside the urn and each urn is labeled on the back panel with your pet's name and date of cremation. A copy of the paperwork matching the identification number is returned to you with the urn. 

Cremated remains are called 'cremains'.  At Paw Prints on Woodland, I strive for the best.  As stated above, I bag and tag all of the pet cremains, I never want to risk the chance of a spill and I want to make it easy for you to change your pet's urn if desired.  When you receive your cremains from me they should be light grey to white in color, the whiter they are the more beautiful they are.  Also, there shouldn't be any large pieces in your cremains, they should be fine, like a dust.  

Customized urns and cremation jewelry are neat and unique ways to honor your pet.  Whether your pet was cremated at Paw Prints on Woodland or not I am more than happy to help you switch your pets cremated remains from their current urn to a new urn or fill a cremation vessel such as a necklace, bracelet, or keychain for you.  Be sure to call ahead for an appointment.

If you choose to go with a communal cremation, you might be wondering, what will happen to my pet's ashes afterward.  At Paw Prints on Woodland communal ashes are never stored longer than 30 days, per the Arizona Veterinary Medical Examination Board.  Several times within that 30-day period, communal ashes are spread on a beautiful horse ranch in Linden, Arizona.