Shipping Instructions
If you are looking for pricing, you should apply for a price quote on the Inquires page. Your pet has passed and you want to ship him to us to process/articulate. The most important thing you can do is to freeze it as soon as possible. Whether it died of old age, being put down, or any other cause. Wrap it in a few paper towels or newspapers, put it in many bags and tie each one individually (trash bags or plastic bags from grocery stores work fine). Try to position your pet in the smallest area possible, this will help with shipping and ensure that you will not have to thaw your beloved pet to re-position it so it’ll fit in the box. This page contains affiliate links.
Things You’ll Need:
1. Box: Make sure it is large enough and sturdy enough for the animal and all packing materials. Double thickness boxes are recommended. You can also use a heavy-duty tote and ziptie the lid on for extra security.
2. Insulation: Fiberglass insulation (the big pink fluffy stuff) works well, but a Styrofoam cooler (make sure it’s large enough for your pet and shipping materials!) will also work.
3. Anti-leak precautions: Many bags (vacuum seal bags work best if animal can fit and you have a sealer, but garbage bags, plastic bags, or ziplock bags will also work)
4. Extra Anti-Leak precautions: Pee Pads work best, but diapers, towels, paper towels, or newspaper will also work.
5. Anti-Thawing precautions: ALCOHOL based gel ice packs (very cheap, basically any reusable ice pack that you can buy- they’re usually blue in color. If you’d like us to send you a whole box of ice packs click here. Ice packs come in hard plastic form or in small malleable bags). Frozen water bottles with isopropyl alcohol or water WILL NOT WORK. Also do NOT use the “quick freeze” packs where you pop something and it freezes instantly. Those do not stay cold long enough.
Optional: Dry Ice. Dry ice will only keep things cold for roughly a day or two, so it isn’t recommended. I’ve also found that after it melts/evaporates, it leaves your pet a lot of room to shift around in the box, which is not good.
I provided a few links for the supplies listed above if you’d like to order them online. You can find most, if not all, of the above items at most local stores, but if you cannot, you can buy them online. You do not need to have the exact same items I linked above. The links are to show you roughly what kind of product you’ll be looking for when you shop. If you can source the supplies locally for cheaper, do so. I cannot stress enough how important it is that your pet is properly packaged. Any fluid leaking, or any foul smells can result in the postal service returning the package to you, or the package getting lost or thrown away entirely. Packing materials are not a place to cut corners when we’re talking about shipping frozen goods, especially pets.
If you’ll be dropping off your pet instead of shipping, then you can ignore most of these instructions. Freezing your pet is still a must (unless you’re bringing them directly after passing), but simply wrapping them in a few towels and bagging them will be more than enough to survive a 7ish hour drive. If your pet has not been frozen you will need to use ice packs to keep them cool during transit.
Please let me know if any links above are not working so I can fix them.
How to Pack the Box:
Step 1: Line the box with the insulation. Put the paper side against the box, the fluffy side towards the inside. Line all the sides, and leave some more for the top. If using a Styrofoam cooler, place it in the box and make sure it is secure.
Step 2: Line the bottom of the insulation (or cooler) with your absorption material (pee pads, towels (I’ll return them if you ask ahead of time), paper towels, or newspapers) to absorb any liquid from the animal or condensation. If the box gets wet due to fluids or condensation, your pet may not be delivered- which is not good for either of us.
Step 3: Re-bag your beloved friend many times and tie each individual bag. Again, we do NOT want them leaking. Then place some ice packs on the absorption material, and then gently place them in the box on top of the paper towels.
Step 4: Place a few ALCOHOL based ice packs in ziplock bags (to prevent condensation) then place them around the animal, frozen water bottles will NOT work. Smaller animals should be packed with more ice packs. Larger animals such as a cat or larger will act as their own ice pack for the most part.
Step 5: Fill any remaining area with more absorption materials, and then paper towels or crumbled paper to fill in any gaps, we don’t want them moving around during shipping. Then cover the top of your pet with more insulation, tape the box closed, and refreeze the entire box (if possible) for at least 24 hours. Please do not hesitate to use a lot of tape. The most common problem we encounter regarding boxes arriving damaged is because the tape came undone during shipping or the box ripped due to not being taped.
Step 6: On either a Monday or Tuesday, take the box to your local UPS, and pay to have them mailed to me via UPS 2-Day Air. Overnight shipping is not necessary if you package them correctly.
If you are able to get an accurate weight and dimensions of the box and have access to a printer then ask us about emailing you a pre-paid label (this needs to be planned out ahead of time)! It’ll save you about 65% on shipping costs and eliminate any awkward questions while dropping your pet off.
You’ll find the address to ship to in the confirmation email you’ll receive after paying the $100 deposit (payable by clicking here)
If your package weighs over 70lbs, it cannot be shipped via USPS Priority Mail. If your animal is large and VERY VERY well packaged, you may ship via FedEx or UPS Ground (4-8 Days) and your pet should still arrive nice and cold. Then send us the tracking number so we can know when to expect their arrival. There will be a $25 inconvenience fee if you do not send us a tracking number. We plan our schedule around pets arriving, and if we do not know exactly what day they’re out for delivery it can mess up our entire schedule.
It is very important to contact us before you ship out to make sure we will be in town to receive the package. Fully processing an animal can take a good bit of time, so contact us via the form at the bottom of our Inquires page to discuss an approximate time frame for your pet.
Photo Instructions:
