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.