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Thousands of dead animals were sent to a La Salle-area pet crematorium where earlier this month public health inspectors discovered bags of rotting pet remains strewn around the property, provincial officials and former clients confirmed Friday.
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Thousands of dead animals were sent to a La Salle-area pet crematorium where earlier this month public health inspectors discovered bags of rotting pet remains strewn around the property, provincial officials and former clients confirmed Friday.
In the wake of a Free Press report Thursday about decomposing animal bodies at Misty Gardens Pet Cemetery and Domestic Animal Cremation, provincial officials scrambled to handle complaints from caretakers of dead animals sent there.
City veterinarians and Winnipeg Humane Society officials questioned how the company handled remains that had been sent there.
"It's just sickening to think this happened," said Vicki Burns, executive director of the Winnipeg Humane Society, who said the society used the company's cremation services for more than a decade until terminating the contract in the last month.
"For many years, they provided what we presumed to be excellent service... however, in the last few months, we've noticed some real changes in their level of service."
Several longtime clients told the Free Press they received no warning from the provincial government that the crematory company had become unreliable in recent months with scheduled pickups of animal carcasses and delivery of animals' ashes.
Crematorium worker speaks out
Kevin Reimer, 37, the fiancé of Gail Harrison, the owner of Misty Gardens Pet Cemetery and Domestic Animal Cremation, contacted the Free Press reporter Friday who visited the grounds of the La Salle-based businesses.
Here’s what he had to say:
On the animal cremation company:
"It's more trouble than it’s worth. Having to deal with all these critics and running across all over the countryside."
"Some of these people who own dogs, they're a little bit eccentric. You know, they want to keep coming back and coming back. You know, we figure we're better off to bury horses and look after the grounds."
On whether the businesses had a staffing issue:
"They just decided to up and leave," Reimer said, referring to a general manager and bookkeeper he said recently quit the business. "I can't find any of the paperwork."
On the filthy freezers and interior of the crematorium:
"I mean, it's not a clean business."
Many former clients said they'd recently terminated their contracts because of a change in service.
A story in the Free Press Thursday detailed troubling conditions at the cemetery and crematorium, after a reporter went there with two women who had sent their dogs there for cremation or burial and received no response from the owners.
In the crematorium, they discovered several freezers of green garbage bags containing rotting animal remains. One of the women, Adele Yan, found the carcass of her dog, Otis, sitting on a counter six months after the animal had died.
"It's awful," said Burns, who said she felt particularly miserable because the humane society had invited low-income pet owners to drop off their animal remains at the society's Kent Street location for processing at Domestic Animal Cremation.
Burns said last year about 1,700 euthanized humane society cats and dogs were sent to the crematorium.
However, she said the society ended the contract because twice-weekly pickups were missed and the crematorium had a series of staff changeovers.
"We wanted to deal with the remains in the most respectful way," she said. "We believed that they were doing that."
A provincial official said complaints about the company should be directed to the province's consumer bureau, but admitted government officials are still figuring out which regulatory body is ultimately responsible. Officials from Manitoba Conservation, Manitoba Health, Manitoba Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Headingley RCMP are all investigating.
"That's where we're actually all struggling a little bit... we're dealing with as many agencies as we can to try to resolve the situation," said Mike Gilbertson, Manitoba Conservation's manager of the environment section.
Gilbertson said power has been restored to the crematorium, including to freezers storing animal bodies. The buildings have been locked.
"We don't have specific directions for people at this point in terms of next steps," he said. "It's a fairly rapidly evolving situation, (we're) advising folks to stay tuned."
Misty Gardens Pet Cemetery and Domestic Animal Cremation was started 18 years ago, according to the Free Press archives.
Owner Gail Harrison had customers from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northwestern Ontario and North Dakota.
After Thursday's story, dozens of readers contacted the Free Press stating they had used the company's services after their animals died.
Most said they had paid a fee directly to their veterinarian for their pet's burial at Misty Gardens, or the cremation of their pet.
Based on the animal's weight, owners paid around $100 to $150 for the individual cremation of their pet. They also received the ashes. For about $40 to $70, owners purchased a cremation of their pet along with other animals' remains, after which they were told the ashes were sprinkled in the pet cemetery.
"It's unbelievable," said Tannys Ewasko, who said she sent her Lhasa Apso, Winnie, there after he died in January.
She fears the ashes returned to her do not actually belong to her pet. "I'm now terrified."
Her veterinarian — one of several named as current or former clients of the crematorium — said he stopped his contract last week with Harrison after a series of troubling signs.
"I had this sense something was not right," said Murray Moffat, owner-veterinarian of Transcona Veterinary Hospital, who estimated 100 to 500 animals were sent from his hospital for burial at the cemetery or cremation each year.
A Headingley detachment RCMP sergeant said criminal charges may be pending against Harrison.
Pet cemetery horror
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Reading that interview with her is just funny, she just flat out denies what is fact. I've seen her do that shit before when I'd tell her that something was wrong.
Re: Pet cemetery horror
