Animal lovers can now give their deceased pets a more dignified farewell, as the Island Sanctuary gears up to start offering a cremation service.

On Wednesday morning, the Marsaxlokk shelter gave the press a first peek of its brand new €26,000 incinerator.

Currently, pet owners can either send their deceased pets to the government incinerator in Marsa (where pets left at vet clinics are sent) or bury them on private land, provided they weigh less than 10 kilograms.

Government plans for a ‘pet cemetery’ in Ta’ Qali – which would include an incinerator and 11,000 compartments for urns containing pets’ ashes – were approved in 2015 but have not yet materialised.

The Island Sanctuary’s own incinerator plans have been in place for around two years and were granted the first round of permits earlier this year.

The government vet and the Environment and Resources Authority will now visit the sanctuary to make sure the equipment is in order before giving it the final go-ahead.

The animal shelter plans to make the cremation service available to the public at a small fee to cover running costs, and owners will be able to keep their pets’ ashes if they choose to.

“We are not a business, whatever fee we charge will just cover over-heads and perhaps help us in the running of the shelter,” Claire Gafa’, who runs the shelter of around 90 dogs, told the Times of Malta.

She said the public had help them raise around €12,000 for the incinerator, with the rest coming from a corporate sponsors.

Ms Gafa said the sanctuary currently had a waiting list of dogs looking to get in.

“The number is always growing, some pet owners develop allergies, some go through a separation, or move into a small apartment. We always have people looking for a place to keep their pet,” she said, adding that the shelter only had three daily volunteers.