Do not casually discard dog corpses

It can be said that every year a considerable portion of dogs still die from infectious diseases. Although most dog owners nowadays vaccinate their dogs accordingly, we cannot fully guarantee that vaccines will be 100% effective. Moreover, many people still choose not to vaccinate their dogs. Besides, improper handling of dogs that die from infectious diseases is also one of the important factors leading to many dogs contracting infectious diseases.

Many owners, after discovering their dogs have contracted malignant infectious diseases, choose to discard them, and most of these dogs are young puppies recently purchased with which they have little emotional attachment. Puppies often die from lack of timely treatment, but we know that many infectious diseases, especially the three major malignant infectious diseases in dogs, have viruses with very strong survival ability. Even after the dog’s death, the viruses can survive for several months, and the dead dog naturally becomes a source of infection. Many owners, when walking their dogs, fail to guard their pets properly, causing their dogs to come into contact with such corpses and become infected. This transmission quickly spreads in a vicious cycle. Therefore, finding a proper way to dispose of dog corpses is very important for both oneself and others.

Burials of dog corpses

1. Burial

For dog corpses, especially those that died from infectious diseases, casually discarding is absolutely unacceptable. Many people choose to bury their dogs and erect a tombstone, which is a reasonable method. When burying pet corpses, it must be at least 50 meters away from wells, springs, or rivers to avoid polluting water sources. There are clear regulations on burial sites; they cannot be randomly buried. The size and depth of the pit must be determined based on the animal's length. The depth from the animal corpse to the soil surface should be at least half a meter. The animal corpse should be covered with quicklime or bleaching powder with a concentration above 20%. Items used by sick pets should be soaked in a bleaching powder solution with at least 5% concentration or peracetic acid solution with 0.2% to 0.5% concentration to achieve thorough disinfection.

Cremation of dog corpses

2. Cremation

Cremation is currently one of the common methods for handling corpses. Some pet stores now offer this service. They place the dog corpses in freezers and then regularly send them to cremation facilities. Owners can also ask staff to return some ashes of the dog as a memorial, though it may be more expensive. Compared with other methods, cremation is the most direct and environmentally friendly way to handle corpses, effectively preventing virus transmission from dead dogs.

3. Preparing specimens

Some owners, in order to remember their dog’s appearance in life, preserve the skull, skin, and parts of leg bones to make specimens. However, this is usually only done by a minority and requires professionals to operate.

For dogs that die from infectious diseases, it is best to handle them promptly. Cremation is the best method. After properly dealing with the dog, thoroughly disinfect your home and avoid raising dogs within half a year to prevent any residual virus from affecting newly introduced dogs.