Actually, it would be my mom’s backyard, where my birds and mom’s cat are buried.
You probably had to pay a hazmat fee (and the practice is probably prohibited) because no one could attest to the actual contents of these urns when they are turned up later. The ashes of a cremated animal do not pose any health or environmental risk, but a cache of what “looks like” ashes but is of unknown origin could be anything and has to be disposed of as if it might be anything, at someone’s expense.There may very well be legal restrictions, some USA jurisdictions prohibit such acts… simple call to the city attorney’s office will give you the details, if any… then again, if you don’t know, don’t ask, and don’t tell
I know this because I lived in a small town where this was prohibited by both village and county ordinance. Ran across a small pet urn in the garden while the village-man was there fixing the run-off ditch (some drunk went off the road, found the bar-ditch all muddy and soft - thankfully, or he would have found my house instead!) ANYWAY, his comment was along the lines that he wondered what the former owners had done with their dog. They were in Florida and wouldn’t pay to have it shipped to them… I had to pay a hazmat fee to dispose of the urn+ashes and that wasn’t cheap either! So please, check first.
You might want to bury just the ashes, and turn them well into the earth, with the clean and empty urn as a marker. Scattering is not OK for human remains, but it is acceptable for the burial of the remains of an animal.
I did not even think about that. You are right. 100 years down the road who knows what snot nosed little kid could be digging around. Better to scatter than to have some young Indiana Jones think he has found the lost remains of Nurhachi.
The only reason I can imagine that an urn full of animal ashes would have to be disposed of as a hazardous material is if the ashes had become an unknown material instead of unrecognizably blending into their surroundings.
Me too.