A GRIEVING dog owner has blasted a pets' funeral parlour over a cremation which she claims was "disgusting and without respect."

Lesley Bennett travelled for more than five hours to Hereford and was charged £50 to have her beloved Rottweiler dog cremated.

Her 11-year old dog Roxanne had to be put to sleep by a Walkden vet because of old age.

The vets' surgery used Animal Funeral Services based at Lyons Hall in Kingston, Herefordshire to collect all its animals. And pet owners are given the opportunity to pay £50 to have a private cremation.

Disabled Lesley of Egerton Grove, Walkden, said: "Roxanne was like part of the family.

"My husband wasn't with him when the vet put him to sleep so we decided to pay our last respects.

"We were stunned when we were told that we would have to travel to Hereford. But we went.

"It took five hours to get there. I asked beforehand for the staff to make Roxanne presentable.

"But when we got to this place we were surprised to find that nothing was ready. It looked like a factory and when they led me into the crematorium I couldn't believe it. It was so distressing. It was just a huge furnace with Roxanne lying on the floor covered in blood.

"It was horrible." Lesley claims that in the past she has been to other pets' funeral parlours such as the one in Rossendale and received different treatment.

"I thought it was going to be like Rossendale. They take such care to look after people's feelings.

"They lay the animals out on a silk garment and even have a service. There was no such treatment here. It was filthy and dirty."

A spokesman for the veterinary surgery, R Collinson on Mayfield Avenue, Walkden, said that this was the first complaint of its nature that they had received.

The vets said that they had sent a letter out to Mrs Bennett asking her to write down her grievances.

They refused to comment further until they had received a reply. "We do not wish to break confidentiality," the spokesman said.

A site manager for Animal Funeral Services, Mr Martin Bosworth-Davis said: "We do understand that pet owners are very distressed when they come to us. We carry out between 22 and 25 private cremations per week and have never received any complaints."

The proprietor of the company was unavailable.

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