A Friend Remembered Mourning Owners Turn To Sandpoint Veterinarian For Cremation Of Their Pets
Jim Baillod shed a few tears when he had his 125-pound Great Dane, Gunk, put to sleep last month.
The dog literally was at his side for 12 years, so Baillod wanted to give him a proper send-off.
Instead of sending Gunk to the landfill or trying to dig a grave in the frozen yard, Baillod had his pet cremated.
“He was a real buddy and it just seemed like a better way to say goodbye,” Baillod said.
Gunk’s ashes now rest in two urns. One sits in Baillod’s house, the other in his automotive shop where the dog was a fixture.
“I thought I might put some of his ashes in mini-urns and give them to my friends for gifts. He was well-loved. People came around here just to see him.”
Bonner County veterinarian Jerry Lewis started cremating pets 10 years ago. His clinic, Pend Oreille Veterinary Service, is one of few in the Panhandle and Spokane to offer pet cremation.
“Some people think it’s weird and others think it’s a great idea,” said Lewis, who cremates an average of one pet a day.
“People are pretty attached to their pets. They are a very important part of their life, so they want to do something nice for them,” he said. “Most don’t want them to go to the landfill and they can’t bury them in the winter. This is just another alternative.”
Most pet owners who choose cremation take their pets home in an urn. Some put them on a shelf, others bury the urn or spread the ashes at a favorite spot, like a hunting camp.
Joan Sharrow, 77, had her dog Jughead cremated a few weeks ago. She is keeping the ashes in a box to bury on her 160-acre ranch near Bayview once the ground thaws.
“I miss him very much, but this seemed like the right thing to do,” said Sharrow. “I couldn’t see putting him on a pile in the dump. This is a much nicer way to do it. I know he will always be with me on my ranch.”
Lewis once drove dead pets to Spokane to be cremated before buying his own crematorium. The gas-fired metal box, about the size of a storage shed, cost more than $10,000.
“The units are very costly and so is the maintenance. And, most clinics don’t have room for one,” said Lewis.
Lewis’ clinic is north of town on several acres. He uses a pasture to spread ashes of pets that owners couldn’t bear to take home.
“A lot of people just don’t know what to do with a pet when it dies,” Lewis said.
Many people live in apartments or don’t own property and can’t bury a pet. The only other option is the landfill.
“I just don’t think the landfill is a proper way to dispose of pets for emotional and environmental reasons. That’s why we do what we do,” Lewis said.
The crematorium heats up to 2,100 degrees and takes from two to eight hours to turn an animal to ashes. The bones are then crushed and placed in an urn.
“We are extremely conscientious about it and make sure it’s your pet in that urn,” Lewis said.
The clinic charges $39 for smaller animals and up to $120 for big dogs. Other vets and pet owners come from as far as Bonners Ferry and Coeur d’Alene to use the crematorium.
“For me it was a very comforting thing to do,” said Connie Berghan, who recently had Tao, her 20-yearold cat, cremated.
“Tao was such an important part of my life and this seemed a good way to release him but still keep a part of him with me.”
Berghan has Tao, the cat she got in Saudia Arabia, in an antique urn. The urn is in a display case in her home next to other art objects from the Middle East.
The clinic cremates mostly dogs and cats. But people have brought in rabbits, a calf and even a pet cougar.
“When we first started doing this it was very slow. It’s not something we advertise,” Lewis said. “But it has really caught on. People want to know what happens when their pet dies.”
MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition