Communal Cremations

 

Communal cremation is where your pet will be cremated with other pets without any means of separation. After cremation is complete, we have no way of collecting only your pet’s cremated remains, so your pet’s cremated remains cannot be returned to you.

Water Cremation is used for all communal cremations.  (See Eco-Friendly Water Cremation.)

At Radiant Heart After-Care for Pets we take communal cremation just as seriously as we do private cremation. We believe that all pets who come into our care deserve to be honored.

Here’s our process for handling communal cremations:

1) After a communal cremation is complete, a small portion of cremated remains from each pet is saved and set aside to dry.

2) Every two months, all saved samples are thoroughly mixed, and then a sub-sample of approximately 2 c. is collected.

3) A list of all of the names of all pets communally cremated since the last ceremony is printed. This list and the select cremated remains are taken to a location in Whatcom, Skagit or Island County where they are released into a body of water. The name of each pet is read aloud as the remains are released, and a short song (“Goodbye My Friend”) is sung. The location is recorded.

All other cremated remains are handled by local sanitary services.

***If you are interested in attending the service when a sample of your pet’s cremated remains is released, please contact us.

***NEXT COMMUNAL CREMATION CEREMONY:  Sunday March 17, 2024 at 1 pm.  Place TBA.  This will honor all pets communally cremated between 1/11/2024 and 3/10/2024.

Goodbye My Friend

(Music & Lyrics by Bobbie Ruth Langley)

Goodbye my friend
I will miss you.

Goodbye my friend
I will remember you.

You taught me patience and how to play.
You stayed beside me through my darkest days.
You never judged me you just sent love my way, my friend.

Goodbye my friend
I will miss you.

Goodbye my friend
I will remember you…
until my dying day.