Complaints pile up against Las Vegas pet cremation business
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Better Business Bureau advises consumers not to pay for services using Venmo or Zelle in the wake of the 8 News Now Investigators’ reporting into missing pet remains.
Dozens of Las Vegas-area pets meant for cremation ended up dumped more than 100 miles away in rural Utah as the Nevada Attorney General’s Office appears to be looking into the now-closed business, the 8 News Now Investigators reported Monday.
Last fall, the 8 News Now Investigators spoke to several people who paid 1st Call Pet Cremation to handle their dogs’ remains, saying they did not believe the remains given to them were their beloved animals. As of Monday, at least one business contracted with 1st Call Pet Cremation to cremate animals was told to keep everything – including pets stored in freezers – as a state-led investigation gets underway.
1st Call Pet Cremation officially closed on Oct. 31, 2023, records said. The company contracted with Angel Hutchings, owner of Forever Friends Pet Cremation outside St. George, Utah, to cremate some animals. She cremated more than 1,300 pounds of pet remains found at several dump sites in Utah and in a Las Vegas freezer, she said, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
As the 8 News Now Investigators reported last year, the company’s website, which was wiped, said it was Better Business Bureau accredited, though the business’s BBB profile had an F rating and said, “This business is not BBB accredited.”
A spokesperson for BBB’s Mountain West region said the organization will go after businesses that deceive consumers.
The BBB began receiving complaints about 1st Call Pet Cremation in June 2023 with an uptick starting that August. The BBB has received 20 complaints over the past three years, with 19 of them reported within the last year alone, according to its website.
“BBB continues to receive complaints from consumers that have not received their pets and are concerned that the remains they do receive may not actually be their pet,” a post on its website said Tuesday. “To date, the company has not addressed any of these recent complaints.”
Several complaints involve a lack of communication.
“If you can’t get a hold of anybody, and not just you’re on hold for 10 minutes, but if you’re weeks and weeks of emails and texts and phone calls and you just don’t hear anything — you’re likely not going to,” Melani Fox, director of marketing and communications for BBB Mountain West, said.
Several consumers told the 8 News Now Investigators that they paid for the cremation services with Venmo or Zelle. Fox advised always paying with a credit or debit card to ensure protection from your bank.
A representative from 1st Call Pet Cremation said they would provide a statement for the 8 News Now Investigators’ initial story but never did. That representative did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.com.
Complaints can be filed on the BBB’s website. The Nevada Attorney General’s Office can be reached at ag.nv.gov/Complaints/File_Complaint/. Fox also advised filing reports with your local police department.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
