Cremate trauma for dog’s owner
LEIGH Holmes has had to live through a pet owner’s worst nightmare after shoving his dog into a kiln to cremate him.
The Cairns man said his woes started when floodwater drove fire ants into his dog Odin’s sleeping area.
“I had to take him up to my brother's place on the Tablelands. I went up to visit him, and when my brother and I went to leave the property he chased the car and was accidentally run over,” Mr Holmes said.
“He collapsed and never recovered.”
Mr Leigh’s brother called Doberling Boarding Kennels and Cattery and Pet Cremation at Mareeba to arrange for Odin’s cremation.
“He was 65kg. We were told to put him on the chute that goes into the kiln,” he said.
“The chute was only two thirds of the length of Odin’s body, and he couldn’t fit into the hole.
“The top half of his body fell down off the chute, and there was blood coming from his mouth.”
Mr Leigh said the incident left him unable “to do anything for a few days after”.
“There was nowhere to say goodbye to him. I didn’t expect them to ask their customers to shove their pet dog into the kiln,” he said.
“This has been very hard for me to deal with.”
Doberling Boarding Kennels and Cattery and Pet Cremation was contacted by the Cairns Post but declined to comment.