I strongly advise anyone in Massachusetts to NOT use Andover Animal
Hospital for cremation.
 
My Bubbie just recently passed away.  He died at the vet's shortly after
his surgery (You may or may not remember my post about this).  Well I
decided to have him cremated there because they have on site cremation
facilitlies.  Yesterday I got the cremains back.  They gave them to me
in a nice little tin.  I opened the tin to say good bye to my Bubbie.
Opening the tin and seeing the ashes for myself was suposed to help give
me some closure as it has in the past.  I was very unprepared for what I
was about to see.  I opened the tin and to my horror there were no ashes.
All there is is BONE!  Peices, chunks, fragments of BONE!  There are
bones just under an inch long!  Now I know this is not right as I have
had animals cremated in the past.  This was my first time using this
place.  I am outraged.  I have cried every day since Bubbie passed away
on March 25th.  This has made my grieving process worse.
 
My mother called the vet's office because I am not able to at this time
without crying.  They told her that sometimes when they cremate the
bodies they have to grind up some remaining bone up after.  If this is
so then WHY did I get back a bag of bones?  This makes no sense.  The
owner of this place will be in tomorrow and will talk to her then.
 
What I want to know is is it my right to demand them to pay me back for
the money paid for the cremation and holding charge and also to ask that
they pay to let me choose another facility to do it correctly?  They are
willing to do it over for free but I just don't trust them.
 
Also I had a rat cremated.  If Bubbie's bones were to be cremated it
would not amount to the ash that makes up my rat Buddy.  So I think
something is fishy here because Bubbie was 3 times the size of Buddy if
not more.
 
I noticed green stuff mixed in with the bones.  Does anyone know if this
is just due to an improper temperature and duration used?  or am I
looking at something foreign here?
 
~Susie and Brood~
[Posted in FML issue 4483]