Dog buried in garden help (sorry)

tori.k

Im not sure where to ask for advice, but know there has been a few animal related threads and it is in a newly purchased house, so you guys get the short straw

We purchased a probate property in April and it has a beautiful mature gardeners garden that's run wild. ive just started clearing back the brambles and ivy when the neighbour gives me the heads up that the previous owners old lab cross dog was buried 12ish months ago somewhere in the garden but they didn't know exactly where, I have a sneaky suspicion where to as the plants and weeds are doing very well despite a hard winter.

so horrid sick question how long does it take a dog to decompose
I really don't want to disturb the process during the squelchy stage, but do need to reclaim the the garden from the bramble runners.
Sorry for putting everyone off their breakfast

moneyistooshorttomention

Well I guess that would be a new thing to ask a dowser to do - ie to check out the exact location:rotfl:

Sorry - I couldnt resist it - but well one can always make dowsing rods from those old-style metal coat-hangers - perhaps with using the "cases" from those typical cheap biros (with ink insert removed) as handles.

Verdict of dowsing = some people can definitely do it. I've had a partial degree of success when I try it.

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Personally - assuming this is for real (and you are long-term poster and so I'm guessing it is) - then I'd get in someone with a mini-digger to remove it. Better than waiting it out imo.

LandyAndy

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

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Personally - assuming this is for real (and you are long-term poster and so I'm guessing it is) - then I'd get in someone with a mini-digger to remove it. Better than waiting it out imo.

It's a dog, not an elephant!

Just dig it out with a spade and have a black bag ready.

AdrianC

Get in contact with the previous owners. Write to their solicitor, if you don't have any other forwarding address.

elsien

OP, any odd replies you get are likely to be related to a previous and very funny long running thread to do with a dog buried in a garden. There may also have been a Tesco bag for life involved - can't remember if that was the same one.
Just so as you know.

tori.k

It is real sadly, I think most gardens have a mixture of pets buried in them. mini digger is a bit overkill :rotfl:

Davesnave

There won't be anything squelchy left by now, just fur and bones.....maybe not even fur.


You should worry; we had two horses buried on our land, but at least a nice man from the council came along to tell us where they were. Being in this part of Devon, he was about 4 or 5 years too late on the most 'recent' one.


We also had a buried dog; in this case a collie, but the owner told me where he was and that he'd been buried some 15 years previously. We had to fell and dig out the cherry tree by his resting place, but the digger found nothing. Later however, I found his tag in the soil and returned it to his owner.


We have been considerate. There's 2 cats and two ferrets buried in the garden area, but they're all well below normal cultivation levels and each has a different tree or large shrub marking the spot.


I don't think you need to be too concerned.

tori.k

Its a probate property so nobody to contact, LandyAndy would the soft stage be over by now. turning my stomach just thinking about it.

Fosterdog

If it's a probate sale then the vendors may not know exactly where the dog is buried, and how long it takes to decompose will depend on how it was buried, was it put into a wooden box or just put straight in the ground? Wrapped in plastic sheeting or wrapped in a blanket?

Even if just in the ground with nothing to slow decomposition I think a year is a bit optomistic for a dog the size of a lab, I've never dug up any of my pets but did once bury a small bird the cat brought home dead and the area was dug up around 8 months later, there were still signs that something had been buried but it was mostly gone and unless you knew what it was you would have just dug through without noticing anything.

tori.k

Thanks Dave thats perfect

Owain_Moneysaver

If it was a probate sale it might be rather difficult to contact the previous owner.

This page (detailed information) suggests after 5+ months it'll be bones, but other sites (what a fun time I've had googling) suggest that if the body was wrapped in anything like plastic the process may take longer.

The shallower the grave, the faster the process as more air and micro-organisms.