People who don't want to dump their pets' carcasses in the landfill will soon have another option.

Dawna Lilya says she and business partner Chuck Ward are adding another business listing in the Yellow Pages under the pet cremations heading.

'It's like a funeral service so to speak,' Lilya said in an interview last week.

She and her business partner's proposal, currently undergoing an environmental review, involves a burning unit designed to handle animal remains.

'It's on the Mayo Road, it's completely fenced in,' she said. 'It burns at 1,400 degrees. It can burn 100 pounds in just over an hour.'

The business, she added, will be called Forever After Pet Cremations. It will allow pet owners to keep their loved ones out of the city dump.

'I would like to see no more carcasses in the landfill, that's what I'd like to see happen,' she said.

Lilya said the new business will offer urns for those owners who wish to take the ashes of their pet home with them. It may later offer a garden area where people can sprinkle ashes and erect a plaque.

'There's a lot of that happening in England for people because they're running out of space.

'They have a big garden and you can sprinkle Grandma's ashes on the roses, the roses love it,' she said.

Forever After Cremations will join another company, Quiet Waters, in the pet cremation business.

According to documents on file with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB), the pair plans to lobby city hall to keep euthanized pet carcasses out of the city dump.

'(Ward and Lilya) plan to lobby the government and the City of Whitehorse to put an end to placing euthanized animal carcasses in the city landfill.

'The city pound, animal shelter, and the veterinary clinics will be canvassed as well, in an attempt to keep more animal remains out of the city landfill,' YESAB documents state.

Prices for cremation begin at $50.

JoAnne Harms of Quiet Waters Pet Crematorium said in a recent interview she has learned of Forever After's environmental review.

'Yes, we're aware of it,' she said. 'How does anybody feel (with more competition)?

'It seems like our population base may not warrant another crematorium.'

Her family-owned crematorium, she added, is a people-oriented business.

Rob Peterson, who works the gate at the city's landfill, said the city does accept pet remains.

The remains of animals that have been euthanized by city vets with drugs, he added, were quickly buried by contractor Arctic Backhoe to protect local wildlife.

'A lot of them are euthanized. We definitely don't want that getting back into the food chain.

'We definitely don't want one of the raptors picking at them.'

Jim McLeod, the city's public works manager, said the city has a policy of permiting pets' carcasses to be disposed of at the landfill but with stipulations and at a cost.

McLeod said he felt people should be aware that the city is only permitted to take pets that have died prior to arriving at the dump.

People or companies dropping off dead pets at the dump, he added, must state up front whether the animal had been euthanized.

The cost of disposing of animals at the dump, he said, is $2 for small pets such as dogs and cats and $10 for larger animals such as moose or horses.

According to the city, there have been more than 1,000 large and small animals put into the city landfill over the past few years.

According to the city, there were: 292 animal carcasses disposed of in 2006, 301 in 2005, 246 in 2004 and 352 in 2005.

Copper Road Veterinary Clinic Ltd. and Alpine Veterinary Medical Centre Ltd. veterinarians could not be reached for comment.