Euthanasia and Pet Loss Support Service for Companion Animals
Contact UsAt Heartland Animal Hospital, our vision has always been to enhance the lives of the animals and the people that entrust us with their care. When your pet is facing quality of life challenges such as a terminal illness or severe pain, you can trust us to provide a peaceful and dignified passing. Our team offers respectful and empathetic support to each family during this difficult time. We can assist you with quality-of-life discussions, support during the euthanasia process, arranging aftercare, and grief support.
Making decisions about final aftercare and memorialization can be difficult. We recognize the importance of honouring each pet’s memory. We encourage families to consider pre-planning for pet loss. Planning ahead can help ease some of the stress and allow you to be more present with your pet in those final moments together.
Our euthanasia services are performed on our premises. We endeavor to offer a quiet and private facility and encourage all family members who wish to be present to come. You are welcome to bring special treats, blankets, and toys to provide additional comfort to your pet.
We understand how important it is for some families to want euthanasia services at home. Heartland can provide some in-home euthanasia services with planning in advance. If we cannot accommodate an in-home euthanasia, we will provide contact information for services that may be able to help with arrangements.
What to Expect
We will provide a quiet and private space for your family to gather. You can decide who you would like to be present. We understand that some families may not be comfortable being present during the euthanasia procedure and that is okay. Our procedure is the same, and your pet will be with one of our team members. You will be given opportunities to spend time with your pet before and after euthanasia has taken place.
Before proceeding with euthanasia, a team member will discuss the aftercare options available. Gateway Pet Memorial offers cremation options and memorial products which our team can review with you at the time of your visit. We will then proceed with payment for your selections in a private setting. If you have preplanned your pet aftercare, you may wish to relay your aftercare and memorialization choices to a team member prior to the appointment time. We can also assist with prepayment so your sole focus can be on your pet on the day of euthanasia.
We will administer a medication that will help alleviate any discomfort and anxiety your pet may be experiencing. They will be able to hear and feel your presence but will be resting comfortably. A technician will place an intravenous catheter into the vein once your pet is relaxed. This allows the doctor to give additional anesthetics and the final medication. Once the additional anesthetics and final medication have been given, your pet will gradually lose consciousness and typically pass away within a few moments. The doctor will confirm that your pet has passed away and give you more time to spend with your pet.
After Care and Memorialization
Cremation Services
Heartland has worked closely with Gateway Pet Memorial for many years. An industry leader in quality and trusted pet aftercare and memorialization, Gateway Pet Memorial offers several types of cremation services and memorialization keepsakes, to help you honour the life of your pet.
Communal Cremation – with communal cremation, your pet is gently placed with other pets and cremated together. The ashes are not returned to you. Communally cremated pets are buried at Sandy Ridge Pet Cemetery, which is located in Eden Ontario. (For more information, please review the Gateway pet memorial website). Although your pet will not have a marked grave, Sandy Ridge offers a quiet country setting with benches and ossuary, for those who wish to visit. Because no ashes are returned to you, some families choose memorial clay paw prints as keepsakes.
Private Cremation – with private cremation, your pet is cremated by themselves, and the ashes are returned to you in an urn of your choice. Gateway has several complimentary urns available, including those intended for scattering your pets’ ashes, for those families choosing private cremation. They also offer additional urns or memorial keepsakes available to suit your preferences.
Home Burial
Some families will want to bury their pet in a place that is special to them. We encourage you to check with your region’s local regulations about pet burials when considering a home burial. Families wanting home burial should have burial blankets or containers readily available when euthanasia is performed.
Aquamation
Also known as alkaline hydrolysis, aquamation is new to pet aftercare services. It is an eco-friendly, gentle alternative to traditional pet cremation, that uses water and an alkali solution to accelerate breakdown of the body. There are several pet aquamation services in Southern Ontario. Currently Heartland does not work directly with any of these companies. Arrangements to have your pet transported to the company of your choice would have to be made by you, the pet owner.
Heartland offers complimentary ink paw prints, made by our team members. These are sent to you by mail a few days following euthanasia. If you have chosen a home burial, we will prepare these at the time we are preparing your pet for you to take home.
Grief Support
A pet’s impact on our daily life can be deeply felt after their passing. While fond memories can help ease some of the sorrow, it’s important to recognize that for some people, pet loss can have lasting effects. We have added some links below with resources for pet loss support. Here you can find articles on grief and helping children cope with pet loss, group meetings, and more.
https://www.petparentgriefsupport.com/
https://pettrust.uoguelph.ca/petlossresources
Memorials
Maxwell
2010 – 2025
Cali
2016 – 2025
2010 – 2025
“I loved you for your whole life, I’ll miss you for the rest of mine.” Thank you Max for being the best friend for the last 15 years. We were so lucky to be loved by you.
Cali
2016 – 2025
