Zombie dogs walk among us!

[snopes]

Comment: This isn't an e-mail rumor so I don't know if you're interested,
but I was told that dogs who have been euthanized are being thrown in the
land fill and waking up and wandering around. I was told the reason for
this is because other dogs who have been euthanized are being sold and
used in dog food and our pets are ingesting small amounts of the
anasthetic and are building up an amunity to it so that when they are put
to sleep, it would take more of the anasthetic to do it and the vets
aren't giving them enough, so they are waking up in the landfill. The
person who told us this said it was documented, but I haven't seen or
heard anything about it and I don't really know how to go about finding
out. I don't know that I believe it, but it is very disturbing to think
about, especially if you have a pet you loved that has been euthanized.
You don't want to think it woke up in the landfill!

[Tootsie Plunkette]

Originally Posted by snopes

...our pets are ingesting small amounts of the
anasthetic and are building up an amunity to it so that when they are put
to sleep, it would take more of the anasthetic to do it ...

If this had any basis in truth, I'd be more concerned about the possibility that my pet was suffering while having a surgical procedure done, if indeed the animal had developed an 'immunity' to the anasthetic.

[PallasAthena]

Isn't it illegal to just put euthanized animals in the landfill? I know where I live it's illegal to even bury them in the backyard. I think people usually have the vets cremate their dead pets. I could be wrong though. We certainly plan to have China cremated and have some sort of ash scattering ceremony (or something) when she passes on.

Of course, I think you also have the option to allow the vets to dispose of the remains, but still, I doubt they just toss them in the dumpster. Of course I've been wrong before...

[llewtrah]

Some euthanized pets go to rendering and end up in animal feed or fertilizer (recycling being the most efficient way of dealing with bodies). Others get incinerated as "clinical waste" along with hospital and veterinary waste unless the owner opts for a cremation (either private or mass cremation with other people's pets). All mine are buried under the back lawn.

Never heard of building up immunity to the euthanising agent though, and a good vet checks for lack of heartbeat (and may inject straight into the heart to make sure). There have been a very few cases of animals recovering after going into deep coma, but it's very, very rare.

[Eddylizard]

I don't really know how to go about finding
out.

Take your flask of coffee, a nice warm anorak, a pair of mittens, a bobble hat, a pair of binoculars and a folding chair, then go and stake out your nearest landfill.

[charlie23]

You don't want to think it woke up in the landfill!

I'd certainly hate to have him euthanized but given Karma's propensity to chase seagulls, roll around in dead stuff and raid the garbage I imagine waking up in a landfill would pretty much be his idea of doggie heaven.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by charlie23

I'd certainly hate to have him euthanized but given Karma's propensity to chase seagulls, roll around in dead stuff and raid the garbage I imagine waking up in a landfill would pretty much be his idea of doggie heaven.

YOMANK

[Fantine]

I don't think dead animals just go to a landfill, do they? I recently had to have my twelve-year-old cat put to sleep, and they offered us three options: take the body home with you for a private burial; private cremation (for a fee) so you can keep the ashes; or mass cremation by a company that uses the ashes in fertilizer in public parks.

[franjava]

Originally Posted by Fantine

[snip]...or mass cremation by a company that uses the ashes in fertilizer in public parks.

[hijack](franjava walks through park) "AHHHHH! I stepped in a poodle!"[/hijack]

[Fantine]

Originally Posted by franjava

[hijack](franjava walks through park) "AHHHHH! I stepped in a poodle!"[/hijack]

That's what you get for wearing flip-flops on a nature walk!

[franjava]

& the mandatory 10 characters.

[kanazawa]

Originally Posted by franjava

[hijack](franjava walks through park) "AHHHHH! I stepped in a poodle!"[/hijack]

...And it got meow wet....

[franjava]

Yomank!!

[Chickee Daizy]

My mom is one of the animal control officers here, and the animals that don't find a home in a certain amount of time are put down. At least here in the town we live, these bodies are taken to the landfill. They don't cremate them; they wrap them in plastic and keep them in a freezer until the weekly trip to the landfill is due. My mom hates when the vet comes to euthanize.

[mouse goddess]

The shelter I worked at had its own on-site cremation furnace. The vet up the street whom I eventually worked for would bring their euthanized animals. Like previous posters, you could pay a minmal fee to get your pet done with the bulk, or pay a little more to have it done on its own.

I just know that it was some HOT work running that furnace in the summer.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by mouse goddess

The shelter I worked at had its own on-site cremation furnace. The vet up the street whom I eventually worked for would bring their euthanized animals. Like previous posters, you could pay a minmal fee to get your pet done with the bulk, or pay a little more to have it done on its own.

I just know that it was some HOT work running that furnace in the summer.

Round here there's a pig farmer who is licenced to incinerate euthanized animals along with dead farm livestock. I think he does a weekly pick-up from local vets.

[Eddylizard]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the idea of my dog eating other dog remains?

Probably not, but I think you're the first to bring up the posibility in this discussion.

[Ezri]

I don't know what my dad decided to do with Sydney when she passed away, I was grief stricken and I think I begged him to get her cremated so I could have the ashes, but it's free to toss her in a landfill aparently, so he probably did that. I miss my Sydney and the thought of her waking up in a landfill was part of my dreams for weeks after she died. I just hope it didn't happen.

[lynnejanet]

When I worked at a vet's office 20+years ago, we put the carcasses in the freezer, and they were picked up once in a while, apparently to be rendered. Now, we're offered the same 3 options as Fantine: take the body home; individual cremation, with the ashes returned; or mass cremation.

AFAIK, the drug used to euthanize pets is not the same drug that is used as a surgical anaesthetic. It doesn't just suppress breathing and heart beat - it stops them. And any vet worth hir fee checks the animal's vitals before disposing of the body.