18 September 2023 , 08:24
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Police in Brazil have opened an investigation into pet burial and cremation fraud as they fear scammers have been conning heartbroken animal owners.
The dog Tchuquinha died aged nine years old and the veterinary clinic where she was treated for her illness recommended to the owner that they hire a company to carry out the cremation. After examining Tchuquinha's final destination certificate, she noticed contradictory information in the document so contacted the Environmental Protection Department (DPMA). The DPMA investigation found that the dog was not taken to the crematorium described in the certificate, and now they have unearthed nine companies suspected of fraud in the burial or cremation of pets.
Tchuquinha's unnamed owner told OGlobo: "What scares me the most is when I find myself wondering where her little body is. My father picked her up off the street, and took care of her more than he did himself." The DPMA believes that the body was irregularly disposed of and that the cremation was forged.
Another investigation said early in June, military police stopped a pickup truck in Engenho de Dentro, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, where they found 64 pet bodies in the back. All the animals were wrapped up. At the police station, the driver said that he was on his way to the Memorial do Amigo crematorium and that he had collected the animals from veterinary clinics in the North and South zones of the capital.
The police verified that the crematorium mentioned by the driver had the authorisation to operate from the municipality's health surveillance, but that he did not have a license from the State Environmental Institute to carry out inter-municipal transport. The driver and two other people from the institution were indicted for carrying out potentially polluting activities without licensing. If convicted, the penalty ranges from one to three years in prison.
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Crematorium partner Paulo Cesar Pereira said that the company is already regularised. According to him, in view of the fraud that has been verified, the final destination certificates for animals issued by the crematorium now have a QR code. This way, the tutor can check the information contained in the documents or contact the company.
In the city of Rio, there are only three places authorised by the Municipal Institute of Health Surveillance to carry out suspended burials (in drawers) or cremations of pets, destinations that avoid contamination of the soil or groundwater. One of them is the Instituto Municipal de Medicina Veterinária Jorge Vaitsman, in Mangueira, in the North Zone of Rio. The other is private: the Pet's Garden Cemetery and Crematorium, in Guaratiba, in the West Zone. A third party, the Sociedade União Internacional Protetora dos Animais (Suipa), is only licensed to cremate animals that die at the institution.
Diogo Alves Conceição, president-elect of the Regional Council of Veterinary Medicine of the State of Rio (CRMV-RJ), said he will meet with representatives of the Civil Police and the environment department to suggest that vets be hired as technical representatives of pet cemeteries and crematoriums.
He said in a statement: "The council will request that a veterinarian be required to provide a death certificate, stating the clinical suspicion of the death. We have to have compassion and empathy at this difficult time for the pet's guardian. Domestic animals are increasingly part of our daily lives, and many of them are treated and considered as part of the family."