Aquamation – also referred to as bio cremation, aqua-cremation or water cremation – is more like natural decomposition than any other method of disposition. The Aquamation process uses gentle water flow, temperature and alkalinity to accelerate our ecosystem’s natural method of breaking down and decomposing organic matter. A process that would naturally take months or years is reduced to just hours. During that time, a combination of 95% warm water and 5% alkali gently circulate over the pet.
At the end of the Aquamation process, your companion’s physical components have been returned to their natural elements, dispersed in water – with only the solid bone remaining, pathogen and disease free. In fact, viruses – and even chemicals such as cytotoxic drugs (e.g., chemotherapy drugs) – are broken down into basic nutrient elements, rendering them non-toxic. The mineral bone ash is returned in an urn to those who request to take home remains.
When your pet passes you can reach us by email at info@aquamations.ca.ca or you can complete our online form here or you can call us at 437-217-0992. We will gather some information from you and then schedule a time for you to bring your pet to our facility in Whitby.
Aquamation utilizes well-established technology, patented in 1888, that has been newly approved for humans and pets. Aquamation is being used all over the world including Australia, the United States, Europe and Canada. While there are a handful of facilities in Ontario that offer Aquamation for pets, we are the first licensed funeral home to offer Aquamation for both pets and humans.
Our process allows you to honour your pet by making the most environmentally responsible and humane choice for their disposition. Aquamation has 1/10th of the carbon footprint and uses 1/12th of the energy of flame based cremation. The remains and effluent are completely non-toxic after the process as it rids the tissue of all RNA and DNA as well as any pathogens or chemicals in the body including chemotherapy. The leftover, now nutrient rich, water is recycled back to the earth through the city\'s wastewater plant. As licensed funeral directors, we treat you and your pet with the same dignity and compassion demanded from the human funeral industry. From the time we receive your pet, to us returning them back to you or the earth, our promise is to be respectful and to handle them with the utmost care.
Our number one priority is making sure every pet is returned back to their family. We are pet parents ourselves and know how crucial it is to trust any person who is treating your loved ones. We use the same metal disc tracking system employed in our human disposition facilities to ensure your pet is identifiable through the entire process. This unique identifier follows your pet from start to finish and is checked and re-checked multiple times. Each animal is separated by stainless steel enclosures during the entire Aquamation process. Remains are dried independently then placed in individual urns to guarantee the return of only your pet to you. That same metal disc accompanies your pet's ashes when they are returned to you.
Yes, the remains are completely non-toxic after the process of Aquamation as it rids the tissue of all RNA and DNA as well as any pathogens or chemicals in the body including chemotherapy. Your pet's ashes are 100% safe to handle and can be divided amongst family members, moved into a different vessel, or scattered at your discretion.
Yes, we accept animals with medical or surgical devices such as metal screws from an injury. Metal is not affected by our process and will be recycled after Aquamation or returned to you upon request.
We lovingly return to the earth all pet ashes from communal aquamations by scattering them for you. We do this in private, forested area.
We place your pet's remains in a sealed plastic bag, inside an urn. There is no charge for this urn and you are able to provide your own urn which we will fill for you at no extra cost.
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