Pet cremation, euthanasia and end-of-life help by city

1. Call the crematorium or collection service before moving the body. Ask whether they take pets today, whether they collect from your home or clinic, which documents they need, and whether the cremation is individual or communal.
2. Lay the body on a waterproof sheet in the coolest room you have, away from sunlight and other animals.
3. Wear gloves if there was bleeding, an infectious disease or no known cause of death.
4. If collection will take more than a few hours, ask the vet or the provider what to do in the meantime.

Keep these ready:

Don't bury your dog on public land or put the body out with household waste. An informal burial can be dug up by scavengers or contaminate a water source, and local rules vary.

Bengaluru has one working animal crematorium, at Sumanahalli, as recorded in the Bengaluru East City Corporation's 2026-27 budget.

Book it through your vet. Ask them to check that the furnace is running and that pet dogs are accepted, and to tell you the fee, the documents and when to arrive.

There is also a private provider at 7/1 St Johns Road, Sivanchetti Gardens. Before you pay, ask whether collection, individual cremation, the ashes and an urn are included.

• Pet Funeral ServicesSivanchetti Gardens
  Call Pet Funeral ServicesDirections Pet Funeral ServicesWebsite Pet Funeral Services

For a death at home, or a dog too large to move, ask how many people will come and whether they bring a stretcher. A pet taxi isn't necessarily equipped to carry a body.

The BMC Veterinary Health Department takes incineration bookings online and publishes a helpline, +91 75649 76649. Use the portal or the helpline for the current facility and slot, not an old map pin.

The BMC's published terms ask for:

• a municipal licence, for a pet dog
• a death certificate from a registered vet at a municipal or private sterilisation centre, for a community animal
• your identity and address proof, if you are bringing a stray dog, cat or other small animal

If your dog was never licensed, call the helpline before you set out and ask what it will accept instead. A vet's bill doesn't replace the licence.

In an individual cremation, one animal is cremated separately and the ashes can come back to you. Ask how the provider keeps track of the body through transport, furnace and handover.

In a communal cremation, several animals are cremated together and no ashes are returned. Neither choice says anything about how much you loved your dog.

Before collection, get the full price and what it covers:

A good vet starts by explaining the diagnosis, what can still be treated, how pain and distress are being managed, and what the next day or week is likely to bring. Ask for plain answers:

• Is my dog in pain, breathless, frightened or unable to rest?
• Can those symptoms be controlled at home?
• Is recovery realistic, or are we drawing out the dying?
• Can it be done at home, and who would do it?
• May I stay, and what will I see?
• Who looks after the body afterwards?

They should explain consent, sedation, the final injection and the body's normal reflexes without rushing you. If your dog is stable enough to wait, a second opinion is a fair thing to ask for. When suffering is severe and can't be reversed, waiting for a certainty that medicine can't give is not kind.

Never let an unregistered person give the injection. If a provider offers euthanasia at home, ask for the vet's full name and their Karnataka or Maharashtra registration number, and check it with that state's veterinary council.