WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is recommending changes in the handling of service members' remains after it was revealed that a crematorium contracted by the military handles both human and animal cremations.
A military official said there have been no instances or allegations that human and pet remains were mixed.
However, officials are recommending that service members' remains be incinerated at a facility dedicated entirely to humans, in order to avoid an appearance of a problem.
Or, officials said, families can opt to have a relative's remains sent to a local funeral home for cremation, which would be paid for by the military.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates believed the earlier situation was “insensitive and entirely inappropriate for the dignified treatment of our fallen,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
“Our heroes deserve to be better treated than that,” Morrell said, adding that a sign at one of the crematoriums noted it also does pet cremations. He said Gates offered an apology to military families for the insensitivity.
The Dover Air Force Base Port Mortuary, where all service members' remains arrive from the battlefield, doesn't have a crematorium, so it contracts with two funeral homes for the cremations: Torbert Funeral Chapel and Pippens Funeral Home.
Pippens' crematorium is located at the funeral home and is used only for human remains, while Torbert's has incinerators for both human and animal remains.
While most facilities don't advertise the fact that they handle human and animal remains, there's a sign near the Torbert crematory advertising the “Friends Forever Pet Cremation Service.”
Officials said there are three incinerators at the Torbert facility and that two are used for humans, while one is used for pets.
The human and pet facilities are separated by about 20 feet.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, Air Force staff director, told Pentagon reporters it isn't uncommon for crematoriums to provide both services.
Klotz said the issue came to light yesterday when an officer who works at the Pentagon went to Dover to pay respects to a fallen comrade who was being cremated.
The soldier noticed the pet-cremations sign and was concerned that the facility handled both human and animal remains.
The officer alerted senior officials at the Pentagon, who notified Capitol Hill and quickly pulled together the policy changes.
Bill Torbert, president of Torbert Funeral Chapel, said a representative from Dover Air Force Base visited a crematory run by his company this week but was satisfied there was nothing amiss.
Torbert said the human and pet crematories are in adjoining buildings on the same property but have separate entrances.
