I don't know if this has been posted before (and I hope this doesn't cause offence or upset to anyone) but I read yesterday that, under new regulations any pet (dogs/cats/hamsters/guinea pigs/budgies) that dies at home must be transported by a certified disposal expert in a specially adapted van.
Also, since the beginning of this month, it has become illegal to bury any dead pets in the garden or countryside in case they contaminate the water table.

I must admit, this is the first I've heard of these new rules. If they're rigidily enforced (although I would imagine this would be difficult) you wonder what alternatives some people might come up with to get around them.

Where did you read this ? I have a friend who runs a pet crematorium & they haven't mentioned anything to me

Can't see how they would contaminate the water table as it is the same as a wild animal dying, the water table is more likely to be contamiated by the chemical most people use on their gardens(not me I'm very Eco minded)

There was an article in yesterday's Daily Mail by Val Hennessy whose dog died suddenly - it's written as a loving tribute to a faithful friend.
Her neighbour put the dog in a cardboard box and took it in his car to the vets for disposal.  The vet told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was breaking the law and went on to explain the new regulations.

If you read the post below you will see the current regulations no where does it say you cannot bury your own pet in your own garden/land & no mention of having to use a licenced carrier-if you are collecting animal bodies as a business you do need a licence which is only correct of course

tyby just interested if you know, (I haven't heard anything of these regulations myself either and popycock quite frankly to not being able to bury our pets in gardens etc, that is just natural fertilizer) but what in particular was the vet complaining about.

Was it the fact that the vet did not wish to dispose of the dog himself?

Do vets now only wish to dispose of dogs dying on their premises? And want us to use couriers to dispose of our pets if they die elsewhere?

Was it the fact that the neighbour brought the dog and not the owner?

If you don't know don't worry, I am just interested incase any of us should get the same feedback from our vets.

Sounds mad to me.  What possible danger to human health can my little buried budgie, hamsters and guinea pigs cause compared to all the wild animals that die naturally in the wild? 

Animals dying in the wild far outnumber pets.

Also, how do burying dead pets in the garden compare to massive landfill sites all over the country?  Surely they must pose a far greater risk to the water table than dead pets.

Also, what about human graveyards?

On the face of it, it sounds bonkers.

From here

Dead Animals

Normally, owners will take back their dead pet and either bury it or have it cremated. Burial of pets by their owners is a permitted exemption under the Animals By-Product Regulations. However, the burial of animal carcasses from business activities such as rescue homes and unclaimed carcasses from kennels and catteries is prohibited under the Landfill Regulation. You should not bury dead pets (that are not your own pets) on the site of your kennel or cattery.

If owners do not wish to have their pets returned to them, you should use a registered waste carrier for disposal of dead cats and dogs etc. Under the Duty of Care, you need to ensure that they are disposed of at a licensed animal crematorium or pet cemetery.

So the information regarding personal pets is incorrect

Human graveyards and landfill sites all have specific planning processes to go through to make sure they're suitable and won't pollute water. :)

For the past 5 years or so it has been illegal for farmer's to bury dead livestock (not even so much as a single lamb) - so I guess it'll not be a long time before burying any dead animal in a back garden is also prohibited for the same reasons....

Once again though, how would they ever enforce such rules?

>For the past 5 years or so it has been illegal for farmer's to bury dead livestock (not even so much as a single lamb)

Over the course of a year though the farmer probably has more than one animal to dispose of and if there is an outbreak of a contagious disease a farmer might have quite a lot so I understand why there are restrictions there.  Bernard Matthews springs to mind as does F&M disease. Compare that to household pets and there is hardly a comparison, especially regarding the likes of hamsters and rabbits.  How many pet rabbits are there in a square mile compared to wild ones?  How many captive pet birds compared to wild birds?  How many pet dogs compared to all the other wild animals such as badgers, foxes, hedgehogs or deer?

There has to be more to it than this, it just doesn't seem to make sense as it stands.

Hmmm but deer and badgers and wild animals etc get scavenged and the flesh eaten or else it rots and gets eaten by maggots - they don't get buried near to potential water tables....

You're probably right about the farm animals :)

In my opinion there's a difference between dogs, and the other categories of pet breeds - dogs being the one where it is possible to have quite large mammals buried somewhere potentially unsuitable.

I know that when my vets has been to my house to PTS my old girls they offered to take the girls away. The first time we refused and we took Mars to the Pet Cemetary ourselves. When Min went the Pet Cemetary people kindly came to pick her up as Mike couldn't bare doing it again as he couldn't drive the car without seeing Mars pop her head up at the back and so we had to sell the car

I don't see how they could regulate it

Have you got a link to it ?

Thanks

Lucy
xx

Now bear with me on this one ..... we've got a small tannery where I work and an amazing guy who loves animals and can make some incredible stuff from leather/fur/skin.  I regular take him bits and pieces and only last week stopped to collect a hare from the road which now looks beautiful and is undergoing the tanning process.  He uses natural processes only. 

I often take my dogs to work with me .....

He has offered   ....when the time comes, but I couldn't. 

I have always said my lot would make super rugs Joking ;) :D

Mine too as they typically frog out on heir bellies with back legs flat to the side.

I have been called Cruella by my family :D :D

Sorry, Lucy, no link as it was a freelance article article as opposed to a news story :rolleyes:
If I could somehow contact the columnist, I would, to ask for more details.  Seems a strange thing for her to say if it's not true

Even Freelance Journalists get things wrong :)

Where did the article appear ?

Lucy
xx

It was in yesterday's Daily Mail, Lucy.

I've just had a thought - perhaps the vet got it wrong !!!!!
(..no, surely not :-D :-D)

The current rules on the Defra website make no mention of upcoming changes. Q8 makes it clear that pet animals are exempt from the usual regulations.

I've just e-mailed the Daily Mail to see if they can give any more details.

Just had a search on the DM site and came up with zilch :)

I read this article yesterday as well and I'm really glad to hear it was incorrect as it seemed really stupid to me. The woman who wrote it had a friend bring her dead dog to the vet for cremation and it was the vet who apparently gave this info to the friend -so it's not even second hand but third hand info and could easily have been misunderstood. Maybe the thing was it was NOT the dog's OWNER who transported it?

I'm really glad to hear it was incorrect

I don't think we have conclusive proof either way at the moment, Goldmali :)
And I've already outlined the circumstances of how the information was relayed :rolleyes:

The point was, I added that maybe what the vet meant the problem was that it was not the dog's OWNER transporting it.

But that could obviously happen where the owner isn't a car driver or is temporarily unable to drive and needs a friend or family member's help to transport the animal.  In those circumstances, it seems crazy to me if they weren't allowed to do it.

Be interesting to see what response, if any, tyby gets from the Mail.

Well I've been wondering about this. Recently somone in the Republic of Ireland lost a dog bred by me. Not only was she forbidden to bury him in the garden: she was told he had to be frozen for 6 days before he was cremated. The vet in the RoI didn't have the freezer space for such a big dog and she ended up having to drive the dead dog to Lisburn in Northern Ireland to get the freezing done and finally have him cremated.

In view of that I fear this is some new bit of EU nonsense that we haen't ratified. Yet :(

What good would freezing a dog for 6 days do

Surely immediate cremation is preferable ?

I have no earthly idea Lucy, but that's what happened. What has me puzzed more than anything is that she still had to have the freezing done in Northern Ireland which is part of the UK.

Very strange

I have just spoken to my vet on a different matter and they are not aware of any changes that have come into force recently and will still offer to take the animals away but they will not insist if the owner wishes to do it :)

This whole thing is just hearsay really, isn't it :)

this exact same thing came out years ago & i can remember discussing it with my vet then.......nothing has changed!

According to this information on the Defra site you can still bury your own pets and I cannot find any reference to any change to that.  If you can still bury them I can't see why any special transportation rules can possibly apply.
As this is a long chain of hearsay I cannot see that we can possibly assume where it has got muddled, the vet may not have wanted the job but then the neighbour might not have wanted it either :) or maybe the columnist just needed a few more words for padding ;)

Hmmmn I read it too, refered to the effect on the water table being the reason.
Karen ;-)

As this is a long chain of hearsay

Umm Isabel, the case I cited of my friend in the RoI a couple of weeks ago isn't hearsay. :) Something is going on .. or more probably coming from the EU.

I was referring to Tyby's story being a chain of hearsay :)
If you look at the link it specifically says it only applies to England.

There is a law very similar to this here in Germany. I am trying to remember where I read it so that I can post it on here, when I can find it I will post it.

Jenny