Vet clinics accuse pet crematory of improper disposal of animals

FORT COLLINS — Two Weld County veterinary clinics have accused a Fort Collins-based pet crematory of improperly disposing of pets, not following through with agreements to segregate pet remains and supplying pet paw prints from animals other than those of the pet specified.

Slobber Shoppe LLC, which does business as Edwards Veterinary Care in Greeley, and Western Skies Animal Rehabilitation LLC of Windsor filed the lawsuit Friday against Precious Memories Pet Cemetery & Crematory Inc. 

The case is brought under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. The vet clinics claim that Precious Memories knowingly “failed to provide services as advertised and invoiced.” Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that “defendants suppressed information and failed to disclose … that the crematory mishandled animals accepted by the crematory by engaging in … separate cremations when private cremations were requested, providing clay paw prints of animals other than those requested, disposing of animals at a landfill when general group cremations were requested, burying animals in mass graves when general group cremations were requested, and disposing bodies and ashes of animals at a landfill when on-site scattering services were advertised and requested.”

The lawsuit named Lisa Kuemmerlin Staggs as the owner of Precious Memories, and the Colorado Secretary of State shows that Lisa Staggs founded the company in January 2003 and was still listed as of Dec. 26, 2023, as the registered agent for the company. However, Samantha Lemmon Staggs answered a call to the facility and told BizWest that she is the owner.

“We’re under new ownership,” she said. She wasn’t certain of when the ownership changed but said it happened a couple of years ago. 

She denied the allegations. “I don’t do that,” she said. 

An emailed message to Dayna Edwards at the Edwards clinic was not acknowledged; a person who answered the telephone there asked that questions be submitted by email.

The case is Slobber Shoppe LLC dba Edwards Veterinary Care and Western Skies Animal Rehabilitation LLC dba Western Skies End-of-Life Veterinary Care versus Precious Memories Pet Cemetery & Crematory Inc., case number 2024cv30072 filed Jan. 26, 2024, in Larimer County District Court.