So my dog died a couple days ago and i buried him in the backyard. I did not know it was illegal at the time but anyway i dug about a two and a half foot hole,put him in a bag, wrapped a blanket around him, and stuffed him in a hole. He was a small beagle and was wondering if this whole was deep enough. And how long does it take for him to decompose you think?
I've done exactly the same thing, you'll be fine and your dog will be fine. I knew it wasn't legal at the time - I guess I'm an outlaw.
"And how long does it take for him to decompose you think?"
- a lot longer with the bag and the blanket !
Sorry about your dog. How deep did you dig the hole and how big is your backyard? When my dog died several years ago, we buried her at my grandparents' house because they have a huge backyard in the country and we knew they would not sell their house (so we can still visit the grave). I think the hole was at least 4-6 feet deep. She was the same size as a beagle and we wrapped her in a blanket.
When I was a child and our beloved dog died we gave him a Viking Funeral. In HS I ran with him, we hunted together and spent so many hours playing.
When he died at 10 years old, I took his body to a woods where we had hunted and brought with me a "raft" that I had made of wood and twigs. It was just big enough to hold his body and it had a slightly elevated platform where I laid him. I covered his body with twigs and laid a few of his toys by his body. There were a few areas where I placed a lot of lighter fluid and even a litle gas.
I lit a small area and knew it would slowly catch fire. I then pushed the raft out into the middle of the pond and watched it burn.
Condolences on your dog.
I think if you want them to decompose, you have to bury them in the top foot or so of soil. Not much in the way of organisms to consume the body once you go down a few feet.
The downside of trying to bury that shallow is that coyotes, racoons, stray dogs, whatever might dig up the body.
So when I buried my cat a month or so ago, I put her about 2 feet down. She probably won't decompose any time soon, but at least she won't get dug up and spread all over the yard by some wild animal. My wife would be upset to go out back and find that. :-)
I didn't know it's illegal, but I don't care either. We'll be in this house until we're dead. I'll bury my pets wherever I want in the meantime.
Why is it illegal?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098084/yup wrote:
Why is it illegal?
That was not my email address.
I buried a huge array of animals on the farm I lived on a few years ago. The worst part is digging when the area gets a bit crowded and you haven't actually marked any of them. You tend to bump into the residents and often can't quite remember who is in that particular blanket.
Think that maybe in a few thousand years archaeologists may dig them up and wonder what's with all the cats and dogs wrapped in cheap fabric.