Saying goodbye to pets with aquamation, water-based cremation

One Marana woman opened Cholla Afterlife , a pet funeral home that offers aquamation. The owner had a not-so-pleasant experience with having her pets cremated years ago, inspiring her to start this business and offer the service.

Dr. Paula Rivadeneira, the owner, says when her dog and cat were cremated in 2008, she was unsure if she got the right ashes and paw prints from the crematorium and felt the process was impersonal.

"I mean yes, you can keep their collar you can keep their tags, but this is their physical body and to not have their ashes or not trust and know that those are their ashes, it's devastating to me," said Dr. Rivadeneira.

Cholla Afterlife is one-of-two places in Tucson offering aquamation or alkaline hydrolysis.

"The pets go into this machine and if you do an individual aquamation," said Dr. Rivadeneria. "They actually go into their own individual compartments which you can actually see here."

Aquamation uses water and alkali chemicals instead of flames to break down remains.

"At the end of the process," Dr. Rivadeneria said. "All you have left is bones."

After that, the bones go into a drying room.

"Everything gets tracked, like I said, so I know where everyone is and then I turn those bones into the powder that you get in your return container," Dr. Rivadeneria said.

The leftover water from the process is pathogen-free, full of nutrients and can be used as fertilizer.

"It's giving life to life and I love that! They can take this home and know this plant is living and thriving because of the water from that process," said Dr. Rivadeneria.

Dr. Rivadeneira says she wants to help send pets off to the rainbow bridge in a way that leaves everyone comfortable, offering a full array of afterlife care.

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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook , Instagram or X .