Should Your Veterinary Clinic Have Its Own Pet Crematory?

Design innovations in recent years have made it possible for many veterinary hospitals to afford an on-site pet crematory. Would having a crematory at your veterinary clinic be a good idea? Examining the question from both a business and a customer service perspective is vital.

Other factors, such as space considerations and local regulations, also have to be addressed, but the bottom line on major purchasing decisions often comes down to the bottom line.

If your veterinary clinic specializes in dogs, cats, and other small animals, a small crematory (which processes 200 or 400 pounds at a time) will easily accommodate your cremation needs. If your clinic leases a crematory and performs slightly more than one cremation per week, you can expect a net profit of $11,000 in the first year. Your unit would be essentially paid off in five years, at which point your annual net profit would be over $32,000. (These numbers assume you lease your crematory at 4.6% interest.)

Best of all, today’s crematories are built with the user in mind. They are custom-configured to the specifications of each veterinary clinic, including the type of fuel you want to use and which features would be most beneficial to your staff.

Veterinary crematories are simple and safe to use. You can install a crematory indoors or outdoors, so space is not an issue. With a few minutes of training, anyone on your staff can operate your crematory. After the crematory is loaded simply set the timer and walk away. In a couple of hours, 200 pounds of organic matter is reduced to less than 10 pounds of sterile ash.

The profitability of a crematory for a veterinary hospital is clear. Profitability is the main reason so many veterinary clinics offer the service. Still, the question remains: will your customers utilize it?

There are multiple reasons why more people than ever before are seeking cremation of their pets, but one of the main reasons is undoubtedly cost. Most municipalities have adopted laws that forbid the internment of pet remains at the pet owner’s home because of potential risks to the water table. Also, because people are more likely to move from one residence to another, backyard internment is no longer as common as it once was.

The Cremation Association of North America stated that the cremation rate in 1985 was a mere 15 percent. Still, by the year 2020, they predict that the number will skyrocket to over 50 percent for all Americans choosing cremation for themselves or a family member. These statistics are likely more dramatic when considering pets and accounts for the dramatic upswing in the number of veterinary clinics offering on-site cremation.

Pet owners want options from their veterinary hospital. Still, the most significant apprehension for most people who might consider cremation for their dog or cat deals with the sanctity of the cremation process. Will the pet be cremated along with other pets? Will the ashes the client receives be from the pet that passed? How can they be sure?
These questions can be difficult to answer for the veterinary clinic that handles cremations off-site. By providing on-site cremation services, the veterinary clinic can guarantee that the pet owner gets exactly what they are asking for. Some veterinary hospitals even go so far as to allow the pet owner to view the animal being placed in the crematory.

In-office pet cremation is beneficial to the veterinary hospital because it provides an in-demand service to pet owners, and also creates an opportunity for a cremation pricing structure that can appeal to a wide range of people.

Pet owners want to treat their pets as an individual after their death. They care about how they are treated during the cremation process and want control over the ashes. While some people may want to keep the ashes for a ceremony or other purpose, others want the veterinarian to dispose of the cremated remains.

Cremation services are quickly becoming a valuable resource for the veterinary hospital, and in the future, offering in-clinic cremation could very well be necessary to compete. Your new, fully-compliant crematory can be installed and in operation at your veterinary clinic within 60 days.

Contact us today to discuss your veterinary clinic’s needs with a crematory specialist.