Rendering: It's what happens to dead dogs and cats

The Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley (who I blogged about yesterday) is concerned about what happens to the remains of all those dogs and cats they euthanize both on behalf of citizens and on behalf of other animal rescue agencies (who may or may not be reporting the off-site removal of their animals).

"As a Humane Society, we would never consent to allowing the bodies of these precious animals (to be) used in research or any medical uses and research, or certainly not to be re-used in a form of food for any purpose," said Carin Orange, a development coordinator with the local Humane Society who said she was under the impression the remains were cremated. 

I mean, for reals? (Rendering aside, why on earth is there any problem with a shelter sending dead bodies to schools or universities for educational purposes? The animals don't care. They're dead. And if people care, then it's their responsibility to request cremation/burial and pay extra.)

Here's a 2008 LA County letter to the Board of Supervisors regarding the disposal company in question - D&D Disposal.

Practically EVERYBODY in Southern California uses them. The counties of: Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura. The cities include: Long Beach, Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

When LA County requested bid submissions to deal with the 100,000 dead bodies piling up in their shelters - guess who was the only one to respond? West Coast Rendering, an affiliate of D&D Disposal. Rendering, people. Look it up, this isn't freaking rocket science. West Coast Rendering is the affiliate every freaking public shelter in Southern California uses.

Look at page 3 of that pdf LA County document and see just how long these shelters have used this service. You'll notice that none of them have used D&D less than 10 years - they are practically the go-to company when you want to "dispose" of those pesky dead bodies.

So puh-leaze, people! Don't act like you don't know what D&D is or what they do. Don't act shocked that dogs and cats are rendered and, hey, you may be washing your face with them! I don't mean you, dear reader. But I do mean any shelter that contracts with D&D and then acts all offended about where the dead bodies of once living animals should go.

Cremation is expensive. It's not all that environmentally friendly, either. Rendering is cheaper and less toxic to the eco-system. It's still totally gross and stinks to high-heaven.

I'm not sure what the big deal is - if it's good enough for the billions of dead farmed animals, all of whom have the same ability to be loved and to enjoy life, then it's damn well good enough for all those dead dogs and cats. If you, as a pet guardian/owner, want to fork out extra dough to cover the costs of cremation or burial, do it. If you don't and you want to drop your animal off at a shelter to get killed, then expect that dead animal's body to end up in your soap. And shelter personnel, please, please, please look at the name of your disposal company before acting offended*. If you are not sure what rendering entails, look that up too (I don't mean that negatively, not everyone is familiar with rendering and it's once again your due diligence to look it up).

Better yet, stop unnecessarily killing animals!

*I'm not sure that the Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley uses D&D Disposal, but I can only assume they do since their representative was interviewed about it...