In an unassuming home on Englewood’s main thoroughfare, warm water gently circulates over the bodies of dead pets inside a large metal box.
For 18 hours, the water and a potassium hydroxide solution dissolves all the flesh from the animals, leaving only bones behind. The process mimics what happens as a body decomposes in nature, just speeding it up.
The machine is the centerpiece of metro Denver’s first pet aquamation facility, which provides a gentler and more eco-friendly alternative to cremation for furry, feathered and fanged friends. Owner John Moody opened Water Bridge Aquamation earlier this year after spending two decades working in the funeral business and learning more about the environmental harms of standard fire cremation.
“Unconditional love is unconditional love, which people have with their pets,” Moody said. “I just feel like they deserve that same level of aftercare.”
Temperatures for cremations must rise to between 1,800 and 2,000 degrees. To reach and maintain that temperature, a single cremation uses the same amount of energy as 20 gallons of gasoline, according to the Cremation Association of North America. That’s enough gas for a Subaru Outback to travel about 640 highway miles — slightly more than the distance between Denver and Kansas City.
The process can also release toxic emissions. Teeth fillings become mercury vapors. Medical implants become vaporized metals.
Traditional burial, too, can have harmful environmental impacts. Burial uses a lot of land, and the chemicals contained in embalming fluids and caskets eventually are released into the soil and water.
Colorado lawmakers in recent years have expanded access to alternatives to traditional burial and cremation. In 2021, the legislature passed a law allowing for human composting. A few companies also offer aquamation for humans, which was legalized in the state in 2011 when lawmakers broadened the definition of cremation. Colorado does not license pet cremation or aquamation facilities.
Moody spent more than a decade working for a large cremation company that ran its equipment for 18 hours a day, he said. His experience at the company prompted him to learn more about the ecological impacts of the cremation industry.
“Working in a place like that, it really puts into perspective how damaging it is to our environment and our climate,” he said.
Moody earned his bachelor’s degree in mortuary science at the University of Minnesota and toured an aquamation facility there as a student.
Aquamation was invented in the 1880s, but its use has spread slowly across the country. Minnesota in 2003 was the first state to legalize using the process on human bodies, and the practice is now legal in about half of U.S. states.
But Moody didn’t get a chance to use aquamation himself until he moved to Denver in 2019 and opened Water Bridge Aquamation. He wanted to offer a new type of service and decided to focus on pets instead of people.
Pets are often seen as part of the family. Moody wanted to offer families a safe, calm space to say goodbye. He also wanted to be able to ensure that families received remains solely from their pet — something that pet crematoriums often cannot promise.
“I always wanted to own my own funeral home. I just didn’t know it would be for pets — but it’s been a great transition,” he said.
Before using the aquamation machine on clients’ pets, Moody and his business partner practiced with roadkill they found. They reduced raccoons, prairie dogs, snakes and a fox to bones — giving the wild animals a more dignified disposal than they could expect on the side of the road.
The cost of the service depends on the size of the animal and whether the family wants the remains returned. Prices for an individual aquamation range from $150 for a small exotic pet weighing less than 2 pounds to $400 for a pet up to 100 pounds. Each family also receives a clay paw print impression, an ink print of their companion’s nose and a clipping of their fur.
Moody gets creative for other species besides the more common cats and dogs. He recently gave a client an imprint of her pet goldfish’s tail.
Water Bridge has provided more than 120 pet aquamations since opening four months ago, Moody said. Once the potassium hydroxide process ends, Moody allows the bones to dry before crushing them into a fine powder to give to families.
The process uses no gas, creates far fewer emissions and is much gentler to the pets’ bodies than flame cremation, Moody said. He uses standard electricity provided by Xcel and, as the utility transitions to more renewable energy sources, so will his energy use.
“With us there’s no smoke, there’s no emissions, there’s no smell,” he said.
The liquid left over after the aquamation is complete is stored in a 2,500-gallon tank behind the building. The water is dense with nutrients, and Moody gives it to area farmers to use in their plots. Clients can also take some of the water to use in their own gardens.
“Dead things are meant to replenish the earth,” he said. “Dead things are able to be repurposed and help new life, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
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