Countywide : Firm Removes Dead Pets With Dignity

Roberta Warne looked weary as she drove her truck down to the beach, where she was to pick up a dead sea lion.

It had been a rough day. She had already hauled four dead horses to a landfill. Now, she was faced with a decomposing sea lion.

Warne, 38, is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, traveling from Santa Ynez to Chino and from Mojave to Malibu. She calls her business Dignified Dead Animal Disposal, and she insists on preserving a dead animal’s dignity during her pickups.

“Ninety percent of the horses I haul are owned by people who are very upset at losing a large animal that they have had for a long time,” she said. “If I can help them and make it more dignified for their animals, then I have done my job.”

Warne recently was awarded a contract with the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department to pick up dead sea mammals along the Ventura County coastline. She has worked with the department for five years hauling other large dead animals, she said.

Her fees, which include landfill charges, vary by the size of the animal but start at about $100 for a horse.

Kathy Jenks, director of animal regulation, said the 5-foot-4 Warne helped pick up horses killed in the Santa Barbara fire in June.

“The guys from our shelter who had gone to help the Santa Barbara people told them, ‘You’re not going to believe our dead animal hauler.’ They expected this big, burly guy with hair everywhere, and this tiny thing shows up with never a hair out of place. They thought she was a joke. We told them, ‘Just get out of her way.’ ”

Warne said the fire was her worst experience in the business.

“It was depressing.” she said. “There were some 60 horses lost--15 in one barn. The fire just cremated them.” Jenks said compassion is one of Warne’s greatest qualities.

“The animal is not just a carcass. She treats it with respect. The men from animal regulation were just amazed at her during the fire. We know that it bothered her. There was so much loss. But she still handled it well.”

Such was the case with the sea lion last week. Warne had been to the beach site the day before but decided she needed special equipment to haul the 300-pound sea lion. “This is not going to be easy,” she said.

She hauled a tarpaulin out of her truck, which has a built-in winch. She and her assistant, Jose Martinez, laid the tarp next to the animal’s body on the rocks. Warne hooked the body and pulled it onto the tarp, while Martinez steadied it. Using the winch, she hauled the carcass onto the truck bed.

Warne, who has a small horse ranch in Moorpark, works with veterinarians who specialize in large animals. They usually call her when a sick horse must be put down. Warne holds the horse by the halter, stroking its nose and talking quietly until the horse falls.