NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Jon Austin, DVM with Hutchinson Small Animal Hospital talked to Hutch Post about a special way that you can commemorate your pet after they have died.
"It's part of the change of dynamic with families, I guess," Austin said. "More people live in town, don't have property, don't have a place where they can bury their pet's remains. Obviously, veterinarians have begun to offer cremation services. That's something we do, several practices in town offer those."
The next thought after that is what to do with the ashes of the pet?
"Some people want those back," Austin said. "Some people don't. The folks who get them back, we send them home in a nice little container. I have people who want to buy an urn, or buy a wood box to keep those. Everybody's idea of what to do with them is different."
Austin has an interesting idea that he did with one of his pets.
"I've been glass blowing," Austin said. "There's a neat thing you can do with your pet's remains, or with people's remains, for that matter. You can make what they call a memorial piece. With glass blowing, you can put the ashes into glass when it's hot and kind of have some of that there. I've made big, kind of heavy orbs that would be on a desk or a shelf. You can use color in those, as well. The ash, really, it's kind of amazing how it looks in clear glass. I like the clear ones, myself, but, you can do that both with glass blowing and glass fusing. Fusing is like 1500 degrees, glass blowing is like 2100 degrees. You put the glass around the ashes. You put the ashes inside it. It's something different people have as an option, as a way to remember their pet."
Contact Austin for more information at (620) 665-8743.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.