Is it gross … or oddly touching?
A new company composts dead pets
What happens to Fido after he dies?
Of course, all dogs go to heaven. Their bodies, however, are another matter. And when dealing with those, pet owners have options aplenty: Cremation, burial at a pet cemetery, taxidermy, even freeze drying or turning their ashes into synthetic diamonds.
Now comes another: Composting. A startup in Washington state, Rooted Pet, says its service is something the “pet aftercare space” has been lacking. Letting kitty decompose in a mixture of organic matter uses less energy than firing up a cremation oven, requires less land than a graveyard and is a poignant, dust-to-dust type of process, general manager Paul Tschetter says.
With cremation, “you’re quite literally vaporizing the soft tissues … it’s pulverized and put in a cute box and given back,” said Tschetter. “I feel like we’re adding more meaning back into this whole death process.”
This could be a mental hurdle for many grieving pet owners, but Tschetter is probably onto something. The $67-billion U.S. pet industry includes a growing aftercare segment catering to owners who, after spending lots keeping animals they consider family members happy and alive, are willing to go to extra lengths when the pets die. More than 700 pet cemeteries and crematoriums in the U.S. are one testament to the demand.
Tschetter describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur,” who, along with a friend who had years of experience in waste management and composting, realized a few years ago that there might be room for new ideas in this market. Composting animal carcasses is far from unusual — it’s the method many farms use to dispose of deceased livestock.
Donated farm animals, as well as some collected roadkill, were what Rooted used as test subjects for its composting system, said Tschetter. The system is based at his business partner’s farm. Pet carcasses are placed in boxlike pods with wood chips and other organic matter, Tschetter said. Six to eight weeks later, the cocktail has morphed into rich soil that looks, smells and feels like any other compost, he said.
“We’re literally taking what happens in nature and speeding it up,” he said, referring to the decomposition that would occur if you buried your pet in the backyard (which many jurisdictions do not allow). But, he acknowledged, “it’s a newer thing and it’s going to weird some people out.”
Tschetter said so far Rooted has composted mostly dogs and cats, but also a few birds and a snake. But that might change. Rooted presented at a recent veterinary conference in Washington state last month, and Tschetter said the response from area veterinarians — who will be the primary gobetweens linking pet owners to the composting business — has been “overwhelming.”
People who decide to compost their pet can choose from several end options. Let Rooted keep the compost and it will use it on its farm or on a tree-planting project. Get your composted pet back (alone or, for a lower price, mixed with other pets), and you can use it to nourish a new tree in your yard. Rooted can also send you a houseplant growing in compost created from your beloved animal’s remains.