Last updated 2026-08-19
TL;DR
Colorado does not run a pet cremation board. DORA registration under C.R.S. 12-135 covers human crematories, not pets. You still need a legal business, local zoning, and usually a CDPHE air filing for a retort. The state does not set consumer prices or cycle times. Confirm every fee and form with the agency that issues it.
Is there a pet cremation board in Colorado?
There is no statewide pet cremation board in Colorado. No DORA desk issues a pet crematory license, and no board in Denver stamps your retort. Human funeral homes and crematories register under the Mortuary Science Code, C.R.S. 12-135. That code is written around dead human bodies. Pets sit outside it. [1][2]
People still hunt for a board because that is how human death care works. You call one office. You get a registration. You hang a certificate. Pet aftercare here does not work that way.
I have watched new operators burn weeks on the wrong agency. They start a funeral establishment form. They get a no. Then they decide the work is unregulated. That swing, from “I need a funeral license” to “I need nothing,” is how you walk into a zoning fight with a neighbor who can smell the stack.
The offices that can actually stop you are local planning, the fire district, and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment air staff. Solid waste staff can ask questions too if carcasses sit, leak, or get stored like a dump. Those rules live in 6 CCR 1007-2. [5]
If a vendor sells a “Colorado pet cremation board license,” ask for the statute number on the application. If they cannot point to a real form at DORA, CDPHE, or your county, keep the checkbook closed.
Other states put animal cremation inside cemetery or funeral statutes. Colorado did not. Read pet cremation board in California and pet cremation board in Arizona if you are comparing states. Do not paste those packets onto a Weld County site plan and call it done.
Do you need a license for pet cremation in Colorado?
You do not need a DORA funeral or crematory registration to cremate pets in Colorado, because that registration is for human remains under C.R.S. 12-135. [1][2] You still need other licenses and approvals. Which ones depend on your county, your equipment, and whether you only handle dead animals.
That is the real split. “No board license” is not the same as “no paper.”
Here is the stack I would run before I ordered a machine. Form the entity with the Colorado Secretary of State and get an EIN. Confirm the current filing fee on the Secretary of State’s published schedule before you pay. Fees move. I will not quote a number that may be stale by the time you file.
Talk to planning and zoning in the city or county where the retort will sit. Ask if a pet crematory is a listed use, a special use, or a hard no in that district. Get the answer in writing. A metal building on ag land in Weld County is not the same case as a bay in an Adams County industrial park.
Call CDPHE’s Air Pollution Control Division about an Air Pollutant Emission Notice and whether your unit needs a construction permit. [3][4] Small animal retorts are incinerators. Incinerators are not invisible to Colorado air rules.
Ask county health or solid waste how they classify incoming animal carcasses. [5] Some counties shrug if you are a destination facility with a permitted unit. Some want a conversation first.
If you sell urns or other tangible goods, register for Colorado sales tax. The state sales tax rate is 2.9 percent. Home-rule cities add their own. [6]
If a veterinarian is part of the ownership or you offer clinical services, that is a C.R.S. 12-315 question, not a cremation-board question. [7]
I would not pay a consultant for a state pet crematory license that does not exist. I would pay a local land use planner for a pre-app meeting. That meeting is the one that saves you.
| Question | Human crematory | Pet crematory |
|---|---|---|
| Is there a state registration board? | Yes. DORA under C.R.S. 12-135 | No pet cremation board |
| FTC Funeral Rule price list | Yes, if you are a funeral provider | No |
| CDPHE air filing | Plan on it | Plan on it |
| Local zoning and fire | Yes | Yes |
| PACFA (live animal care) | No | Only if you house live pets |
| State-set consumer price | No | No |
Who regulates human crematories in Colorado if not pets?
Human crematories register with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations, under the Mortuary Science Code, C.R.S. Title 12, Article 135. [1][2] That DORA funeral and crematory program is the closest thing Colorado has to a cremation board. It is not a pet desk.
The FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453, also attaches to funeral providers who sell funeral goods and funeral services for dead human bodies. [8][9] It does not give pet owners a General Price List right.
The federal rule is blunt. 16 CFR 453.1 defines funeral services as “Any services which may be used to: (1) Care for and prepare deceased human bodies for burial, cremation or other final disposition; and (2) arrange, supervise or conduct the funeral ceremony or the final disposition of deceased human bodies.” [8]
Read that twice. Deceased human bodies. Your pet price list is a contract. If you lie about private versus communal, it can become a Colorado Consumer Protection Act problem under C.R.S. 6-1-105. [11] It is not an FTC Funeral Rule problem.
If you ever add human cremation, stop and treat that as a new business. Different DORA file. Different building rules. Different chain of custody. Mixing human and pet retorts is how people get into the kind of trouble that makes the news. I would keep pets in a dedicated room and a dedicated machine. Always.
Do you need a CDPHE air permit for a pet retort?
Plan on an air filing. A pet retort is a stationary incinerator, and Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission puts stationary sources under Regulation Number 3, 5 CCR 1001-5. [3] CDPHE’s Air Pollution Control Division is the shop that takes construction permit questions. [4]
I will not invent a processing time, a fee, or a guarantee that your unit is “too small to permit.” Those answers change with the machine, the fuel, the afterburner, the hours you run, and what else sits on the parcel. Confirm with CDPHE. Ask them, in writing, whether you need an Air Pollutant Emission Notice, a construction permit, or both.
EPA’s AP-42 compilation is the national emissions-factor book people use when they estimate incinerator output. Chapter 2 covers solid waste disposal and related combustion. [14] It is not a Colorado permit. It is the homework you bring to the permit conversation so you are not guessing in front of an engineer.
Stack height, opacity, and neighborhood complaints are how these files get ugly. A cheap used box with no secondary burner is a waste of money on the Front Range, where winter inversions already make people stare at every plume. Buy the afterburner. Put the stack where the planner told you to put it.
Do not start firing “just to test” before the air paper is clear. That is the fastest way to meet an inspector on a bad day.
What zoning and land use paper do you need in Colorado?
Zoning is local. Colorado home-rule cities write their own land use codes. Unincorporated land runs through the county. There is no state map that says pet cremation is allowed on your lot.
Call planning before you sign a lease. Ask three things. Is cremation or incineration a listed use in this district? Do you need a special use permit or a conditional use? What does the fire district want for setbacks, fuel, and access?
Get names and a case number. A verbal “should be fine” from a clerk is not paper.
Industrial and heavy commercial districts are where I would start. Rural ag land looks cheap until a neighbor treats your stack like a public hearing. Residential and mixed-use storefronts are a waste of time for a retort, even if the rent is pretty.
Building, mechanical, and fire permits still apply. The retort is equipment. The room is occupancy. If you store LP gas or diesel, say that out loud in the pre-app. Surprises on fuel are how fire marshals shut a bay.
County variation is the whole game. Denver is not Mesa County. El Paso County is not Boulder. If you are reading a checklist written for pet cremation board in Florida or pet cremation board in Illinois, throw out the zoning chapter and start over with your local code.
How much does pet cremation cost in Colorado?
Colorado does not set pet cremation prices. There is no board tariff and no state fee schedule for what you charge a grieving owner. Each operator sets a private contract price. Nobody has a clean public dataset of what Colorado households actually paid last year, so I will not invent a statewide average and pretend it is research.
What you will see in the market is weight-based pricing and a split between communal and private. Private costs more because the chamber is reserved and the ashes go back to one family. Communal is cheaper because animals share a cycle and you do not return individual remains. If an ad hides that split, treat it as a warning.
The FTC Funeral Rule does not force a General Price List for pets. [8][9] You should still put method, weight tier, urn, pickup, and return of ashes on one page. Colorado’s Consumer Protection Act treats a false statement about the characteristics of a service as a deceptive trade practice. C.R.S. 6-1-105 says a person engages in a deceptive trade practice when the person “Knowingly makes a false representation as to the characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, alterations, or quantities of goods, food, services, or property.” [11] Private versus communal is a characteristic of the service. Write it down.
For startup cost, the retort is the big check. Air filings, a build-out, and a grease-proof floor add up. Confirm current CDPHE and city fees with those offices. I will not guess them here.
If you are the pet owner, not the operator, call two providers. Ask whether the cremation is private. Ask when ashes come back. Get the number in an email. That is the whole consumer play.
How long does pet cremation take in Colorado?
Colorado sets no legal clock for pet cremation. There is no statutory number of hours, and no board quota for returning ashes. Confirm timing with the operator you hired. Nobody should promise a state deadline that does not exist.
On the machine side, a small private cycle for a cat or a small dog is often a couple of hours of heat plus cooldown, then processing of bone fragment. Large dogs take longer. Communal loads are scheduled in batches, so the animal you drop Monday may not run until later in the week. That is operations, not law.
Pickup and return are where families get mad. Same-week return is common when the operator is local and the case is private. Multi-site routes, veterinary holdovers, and weekend euthanasias stretch that. If someone guarantees “ashes tomorrow” with no mention of cooldown or a backup chamber, they are selling hope.
Human remains carry refrigeration and handling rules under the mortuary code. Pets do not inherit those clocks. [1][2] You still need a cooler if you hold carcasses overnight. That is sanitation and neighbor relations, not a DORA form.
Write the expected return window on the authorization. If you miss it, call before the owner calls you.
Does PACFA or the veterinary board cover pet cremation?
Usually no, if all you do is take dead animals and cremate them. PACFA is the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act, run by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. It licenses places that house or transfer live pet animals. [10] A dead-animal-only crematory is not a kennel. Do not buy a PACFA license you do not need. Confirm with CDA if your plan includes boarding, grooming, or live intake.
The State Board of Veterinary Medicine sits at DORA and enforces C.R.S. 12-315. [7] Cremating a body is not, by itself, the practice of veterinary medicine. Diagnosing, prescribing, performing surgery, or holding yourself out as a clinic is. If a DVM owns the crematory and also runs exam rooms, you have a veterinary premises problem and a cremation operations problem. Keep the files separate.
Vet partners will ask for a simple aftercare protocol. Who signs the release. How you ID the body. How you report if a tag does not match. That paper is how you keep clinics. It is not a board license.
USDA’s carcass-management page is written for disease events, but it is honest about the tool kit: incineration, burial, composting, rendering, landfill. [12] Companion-animal aftercare in Colorado is almost always incineration or a county landfill conversation, not rendering.
What business and tax filings apply to a Colorado pet crematory?
You need a legal person to sign leases and air forms. Most people file articles for an LLC with the Colorado Secretary of State, then get an EIN from IRS. Confirm the current state filing fee on the Secretary of State’s own schedule the day you file. I am not printing a fee that the office can change.
Register a trade name if you will not operate under the entity’s legal name. Get a local business license if the city requires one. That is a city clerk question, not a cremation-board question.
Sell urns, paw-print kits, or other tangible goods and you are in sales tax. Colorado’s state sales tax rate is 2.9 percent. [6] Home-rule cities layer more on top. Collect on the goods. Confirm with the Department of Revenue how they want you to treat the service line. Do not take tax advice from a Facebook group.
Workers’ compensation and unemployment follow if you have staff. A one-person shop still needs general liability and a pollution or smoke endorsement if you can get it. Insurers will ask about the afterburner and the air file. That is another reason not to run dirty.
Bank accounts should match the entity. Mixing household cash with cremation receipts is how you lose both the tax argument and the chain-of-custody argument.
Is alkaline hydrolysis legal for pets in Colorado?
I have not seen a statewide ban on using alkaline hydrolysis for animal remains. I also have not seen a friendly one-page “pet aquamation permit” from a Colorado board. The live issue is the liquid, not a cremation license.
If effluent goes to a sanitary sewer, the local POTW sets the rules. If you discharge to state waters, you are in the Colorado Discharge Permit System, 5 CCR 1002-61. [13] If you haul effluent off site, you need a destination that will take it and paper that proves they did. Confirm all three paths before you buy a unit. No one can honestly promise you an approval date in this article.
Human alkaline hydrolysis, where it is used, sits inside the human mortuary conversation at DORA. [1] Do not borrow a human authorization form and scratch out the word “human.” Write a pet-specific release that names the process, the disposition of effluent, and whether any remains come back.
Water, heat, and alkali are not a magic exemption from zoning. Planners still see an industrial process. Tell them what the machine is. Show them the drain plan. A surprise neutralization tank at final inspection is a waste of a month.
What should you put in writing for pet owners?
Put the method in writing. Private, partitioned, or communal. Those words mean different things in this trade, so define them on the form. Private means this animal alone in the chamber. Communal means shared. If you cannot defend the word in front of a county attorney, change the word.
ID the animal on intake. Tag, photo, weight, clinic case number, owner name. One metal tag that stays with the body beats a sticky note. Split remains are how reputations die.
Authorization should cover cremation method, disposition of ashes, who may pick them up, and what happens if nobody comes. Keep it one page if you can. Long packets do not get read in a vet lobby.
Price the extras. Paw prints, fur clips, rush, after-hours intake. If it is not on the paper, do not invent it at the counter.
C.R.S. 6-1-105 is the statute I keep in mind when I write ads. [11] “Witnessed private cremation” is a specific claim. If the owner will not actually see the insertion, do not print that phrase.
Give a receipt. Give a release when ashes go home. Keep both. Paper is cheaper than a complaint.
What would I actually do in the first year?
I would pick the county first, not the machine. If zoning is a no, the prettiest retort is scrap. I would sit in a pre-app, then call CDPHE air, then call the fire marshal. Then I would sign a lease.
I would not open on a residential lot. I would not share a stack with a paint booth. I would not take human cases “just this once.”
I would budget for a cooler, a scale, a logbook, and a second person who can run intake when I am on a removal. Solo operators miss tags. That is how you cremate the wrong dog.
I would write the private-versus-communal script before I printed brochures. I would visit two clinics and ask what aftercare paper they already use, then match it so staff do not invent a new form at 6 p.m.
If you want the forms in one pile, AquamationPath sells a $199 one-time Retort + EPA + Vet-Partner Kit at /start. You can also pull every form from the agencies yourself. The kit is not a license and it does not file anything for you.
I would skip billboard branding in year one. I would skip a showroom full of $400 urns. Families buy simple. Clinics care about pickup windows and whether you lose bodies. Spend money on the afterburner and the floor drain, not a neon paw.
How does Colorado compare with other states?
Colorado is a local-control state with a human mortuary board and no pet cremation board. That is friendlier than states that force animal cremation into cemetery or funeral statutes. It is harsher than the myth that you only need an LLC and a Facebook page.
Air and zoning do the real regulating. That pattern shows up in other mountain and western states too, with different agency names. If you want the contrast, read pet cremation board in Idaho and pet cremation board in Alaska. Do not assume the form numbers transfer.
The honest Colorado path is boring. Entity. Zoning. Air. Tax. Clean authorization. No fake wall certificate.
Confirm every current fee and form with the office that collects it. No article can lock those for you.
AquamationPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. If you want that kit, it is at /start. Pull the statutes yourself either way.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for pet cremation in Colorado?
You do not need a DORA funeral or crematory registration to cremate pets. That license is for human remains under C.R.S. 12-135. You still need a legal business, local zoning and fire approval, and usually a CDPHE air filing for the retort. Confirm each item with the office that issues it. There is no single pet cremation board license.
How much does pet cremation cost in Colorado?
The state does not set pet cremation prices. Operators set their own, usually by weight and by private versus communal. There is no reliable public average I will invent for you. Ask for a written quote that names the method, the weight tier, and whether ashes come back. Confirm sales tax on urns with the Department of Revenue.
How long does pet cremation take in Colorado?
Colorado sets no legal deadline for pet cremation or ash return. A small private cycle is often a few hours of heat plus cooldown, then processing. Communal cases run on the operator’s batch schedule. Pickup and return can be same week or longer. Get the window in writing from the operator you hired.
Is pet cremation legal in Colorado?
Yes. Nothing in the Mortuary Science Code bans cremating animals. You must still obey local zoning, fire rules, solid waste handling, and Colorado air rules for the incinerator. Mislabeling communal work as private can also violate the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Legal and unregulated are not the same thing.
Does DORA license pet crematories?
No. DORA’s funeral homes and crematories program registers human operations under C.R.S. 12-135. Staff will send you back if you call asking for a pet certificate. Use that energy on CDPHE air and your county planner instead. If you later add human cremation, that is a different DORA file.
Do I need a veterinarian to open a pet crematory?
No, not if you only handle already-dead animals and do not practice veterinary medicine. C.R.S. 12-315 covers diagnosis, treatment, and holding out as a clinic. A DVM partner helps with referrals. It is not a state cremation license. If exam rooms share the building, ask DORA’s veterinary program how they view the premises.
Can I bury a pet on my property in Colorado?
Often yes on private land, but cities, HOAs, and counties can restrict depth, setbacks, and backyard burial. There is no friendly statewide pet-burial permit I can point you to. Check local ordinance before you dig. Livestock mortality rules are a different conversation from companion animals. When in doubt, use a crematory or ask the landfill.
Does the FTC Funeral Rule apply to pets in Colorado?
No. 16 CFR 453 defines funeral services as care and disposition of deceased human bodies. Pet owners do not get a federal General Price List right. You still should itemize method and price, because a false private-cremation claim can be a Colorado deceptive trade practice under C.R.S. 6-1-105.
Do I need an air permit for a small animal retort?
Treat a retort as a stationary incinerator and ask CDPHE before you fire it. Regulation Number 3, 5 CCR 1001-5, is the air-permitting rule. Whether you need an APEN, a construction permit, or both depends on the unit and the site. I will not invent an exemption. Get the answer in writing.
What is the difference between private and communal pet cremation?
Private means one animal in the chamber and those ashes returned to one family. Communal means several animals share a cycle and individual ashes are not separated. Partitioned or “individual” marketing is where operators get sloppy. Define the words on your authorization. If the owner will not see insertion, do not advertise a witnessed private cremation.
Does PACFA license pet crematories?
PACFA licenses facilities that house or transfer live pet animals. A dead-animal-only crematory typically does not need that license. If you also board, groom, or take live intake, ask the Colorado Department of Agriculture before you open. Confirm. Do not buy a PACFA file as a substitute for zoning or air paper.
Can I run alkaline hydrolysis for pets in Colorado?
There is no statewide pet aquamation board approval to collect, and I have not seen a ban either. The live issue is effluent. Talk to the sewer utility, and read 5 CCR 1002-61 if you might discharge to state waters. Confirm before you buy the unit. Zoning still applies. Do not reuse a human mortuary form.
Which county office should I call first?
Planning and zoning for the parcel, then the fire district, then CDPHE air. County environmental health is the fourth call if you will store carcasses. DORA is the wrong first call for pets. Write down the planner’s name and any pre-app case number. A hallway yes is not an approval.
Are human and pet crematories the same license in Colorado?
No. Human crematories register with DORA under C.R.S. 12-135. Pet operations do not get that registration. Both still face air, zoning, and fire review. Do not run both processes in one retort. If you want both lines of work, treat them as two businesses with two paper stacks.
Sources
- Colorado DORA, Funeral Homes and Crematories Laws: Human funeral homes and crematories in Colorado are regulated under C.R.S. Title 12, Article 135, not a pet cremation board.
- Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services, CRS 2023 Title 12: C.R.S. Title 12 includes Article 135, the Mortuary Science Code covering human death care.
- Colorado Secretary of State, 5 CCR 1001-5 Regulation Number 3: Colorado air permitting for stationary sources, including incinerators, is set out in 5 CCR 1001-5.
- CDPHE Air Pollution Control Division, Construction permits: CDPHE issues construction permits for stationary air sources and is the office that confirms whether a retort needs one.
- Colorado Secretary of State, 6 CCR 1007-2 Solid Waste Regulations: Colorado solid waste requirements that can apply to stored carcasses are published in 6 CCR 1007-2.
- Colorado Department of Revenue, Sales tax rates: Colorado's state sales tax rate is 2.9 percent, with local taxes added by cities and counties.
- Colorado DORA, Veterinary Medicine Laws: The practice of veterinary medicine in Colorado is governed by C.R.S. 12-315, separate from cremation registration.
- eCFR, 16 CFR Part 453 Funeral Industry Practices: The FTC Funeral Rule defines funeral services as care and final disposition of deceased human bodies, not pets.
- Federal Trade Commission, Complying with the Funeral Rule: The Funeral Rule applies to funeral providers who sell funeral goods and funeral services to the public.
- Colorado Department of Agriculture, PACFA program: PACFA licenses pet animal care facilities that house or transfer live pet animals, not a dedicated pet cremation board.
- Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services, CRS 2023 Title 6: C.R.S. 6-1-105 lists deceptive trade practices, including false representations about the characteristics of services.
- Colorado Secretary of State, 5 CCR 1002-61 Colorado Discharge Permit System: Discharges to state waters are regulated under Colorado CDPS rules in 5 CCR 1002-61.
- U.S. EPA, AP-42 Chapter 2 Solid Waste Disposal: EPA publishes air emission factors for incineration and related solid waste combustion sources used in permit estimates.