Aquamation uses water, alkali solution to provide alternative to pet cremation
Jan. 23—Add water, an alkali solution, mix and heat up for 18 hours, and your departed pet emerges as ashes.
Aquamation is a 195-degree, water-based alternative to the traditional 1,500-degree cremation.
Santa Fe veterinarian Dr. Amanda Mouradian, owner of Chamisa Veterinary Services, is the only New Mexico location with an Aquamation machine, designed and manufactured by Bio-Response Solutions in Danville, Ind.
Since installing the machine in October at Chamisa's new 7502 Mallard Way location, Mouradian has Aquamated some 100 dogs and cats, with about 95 percent of pet owners who elect euthanasia opting for Aquamation.
Aquamation is an in-house service at Chamisa, unlike cremations, for which Mouradian contracted with another provider at a cost of $3,000 to $6,000 a month. She stopped offering pet cremations in October.
Deceased animals are placed in a 45 1/2 -by-20-by-14 1/2 -inch basket that is placed into the top-loading machine. Two baskets can be placed on top of each other, and several partitions can keep animals apart.
The machine has a capacity of 550 pounds, and as many as 14 dogs can be Aquamated at one time.
"This model is able to do a potbellied pig," said Sam Sieber, vice president of research at Bio-Response.
The Aquamation machine speeds up the natural process of decomposition that occurs in the ground as water and natural microbes work on tissues and organs. With Aquamation, the process of alkaline hydrolysis, using gently flowing water at 195 degrees and a 4% solution of hydrogen hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, speeds up the natural process, Sieber said.
"The alkaline acts as a catalyst to speed up the process, as does the gentle motion of the water," she said. "The water does the breaking down. The gentle water flow is a catalyst, too."
Early in the pandemic, Mouradian went through hospice and palliative care certification for animals, and one segment addressed euthanasia and after-care options.
"They talked about Aquamation and how bad flame cremation is for the environment," she said. "I wanted to vomit when I saw how bad cremation was. It releases huge amounts of carbon into the environment."
Mouradian created Chamisa Aquamation and Chamisa Rehabilitation within Chamisa Veterinary Services, which is a mobile vet business. She moved the business to Mallard Way specifically to house the Aquamation machine in the rear room — along with parking for her hybrid car.
"I'm trying to have my entire business be sustainable," Mouradian said. "We're going to use all reclaimed water in the next month."
Aquamation will be fed from water used with her underwater dog treadmill, rainwater and water reclaimed from the indoor Green Fuego cannabis farm next door.
Kim Lardon, a 2016 transplant from Texas, was drawn to the environmentally friendly process of Aquamation and Mouradian's approach for the four years the vet has made house calls for Lardon's 7 1/2 -year-old Labrador, Lou, who was euthanized in November with bone cancer and arthritis.
"It just seemed less harsh. It wasn't going to a second, third or fourth place [like can happen with cremations]," Lardon said. "I know that Lou was going from my door to Chamisa. I have two paw prints and two nose prints. It was beautifully wrapped."
Mouradian scoops the ashes into a biodegradable bag and places them into an urn — either a rectangular hard paperboard box or Acacia wood box. She also includes paw and nose prints.
The cost is $40 to $55 for communal Aquamation, where ashes of multiple animals are mixed — typically chosen by pet owners who don't want to keep the ashes — or $120 to $275 for private Aquamation, where the pet owner receives the ashes from their pet.
"Amanda gave me a detailed holistic palliative plan," Lardon said. "He lived three to four months longer than a specialist said he would. She gave me weekly calls and check-ins. Amanda came to the house. It was just happening all professionally and personally. There was no rush."
The Aquamation process is the final step in Mouradian's veterinary practice, which focuses on senior pet pain management and pet care.
"We don't do surgery, anesthesia or dental," Mouradian said. "If somebody want Aquamation, all they need to do is call, email or text. We will do everything for them."
Call or text 505-795-2300 or email at info@chamisavet.com.
