This is every family’s biggest fear when choosing the type of after-care their pet receives and the company who will provide it. At Hampton Roads Veterinary Hospice, we chose to begin offering our water-based cremation services to help alleviate this fear. Our doctors care for your pet during its end of life journey and that compassionate care does not stop once you have said goodbye.

After you have finished your final goodbyes, one of our doctors or Aftercare Coordinators will transport your pet back to our Hospice Center. Once they arrive, your pet is given a custom-engraved stainless steel name tag. We have chosen to use engraved name tags as your beloved pet is more than just an identification number to us. This name tag will stay with your pet throughout their stay with us and will be checked at each step in the cremation process and can be found inside their urn with their ashes. Each pet is assigned an individual compartment inside the water-based cremation machine, which is drawn onto our tracking board so we can identify where each pet is during the entire process. We also provide an official certificate of cremation with your pet’s name, date of cremation, and the signature of the Aftercare Coordinator who took care of your pet during their stay.

We do not place pets into freezers or routinely use body bags. We have a custom-designed cool room where we are able to keep pets temporarily until the cremation process begins. We also offer temporary body storage services if a family needs time for additional family members to view the body, needs time to prepare for a home burial, or simply needs time to decide what the best after-care option is for their pet. We do not utilize cadaver bags if at all possible. Small pets are transported in baskets and larger pets on stretchers, both wrapped lovingly in blankets.

We strive to provide the most compassionate and respectful care of your pet once you have said goodbye. We have designed our entire process with this level of professional care for your family members in mind.

• We do not utilize freezers. If body storage is needed or if there is a small wait time before a pet can be cremated, we have a customized cool room to keep your pets protected and in their beds.
• We use custom engraved name tags instead of standard numbered identification tags because we feel your pet is more than just a number.
• We only use cadaver wraps if absolutely necessary to maintain the cleanliness of our facility for all pets in our care. Small pets are transported in baskets and larger pets on stretchers, both wrapped lovingly in blankets.
• We are a locally owned small business. Your pet will only travel as far as our Hospice Center in Virginia Beach and we will pick up your pet from your home and deliver him/her back home to you at no additional charge.
• We do not incinerate medical waste at the same facility as your beloved pet.

Since the water-based cremation process is a 20-hour cycle, it is not practical to witness the entire cremation. However, if you would like to witness your pet being placed into the cremation machine, we can coordinate this with our aftercare coordinators. The machine is typically loaded between 9am-10am each morning so that the cycle can be completed before the following day. Please keep in mind that we are generally working to return your pet as well as other pets to their families so you may witness portions of the cremation process that are unsettling to some people.

After any cremation process, the bone material is processed to create the fine ash that is typically thought of when we say “ashes.” Because the water-based cremation process does not involve a flame, the ashes are usually a light gray or light sage color versus the darker gray or black color associated with flame-based cremation. While we process the bones to the very best of our ability, it is always possible that you could see small bone fragments and/or teeth mixed in with the ash material. You will also receive any TPLO plates, bone screws, etc. that your pet acquired during surgery returned to you in a small container separate from their ashes.