Sparks Brain Preservation
A Non-profit Organization
Pets are cherished family members who bring immeasurable joy and love to our lives. For those who wish to preserve their pet’s brain structure in case future technology might allow for some form of revival and reunion, we offer professional pet brain preservation services.
Our pet preservation service uses the same high-quality aldehyde preservation techniques we use for human patients, adapted specifically for our companion animals.
The goal of this service is to preserve the important aspects of the microscopic structure of your pet’s brain indefinitely. As with human patients, we do not offer whole body preservation for pets. We believe that brain preservation is a challenging enough problem, and we believe focusing solely on this offers the best chance of maintaining what makes your pet unique, including their long-term memories and personality.
To sign up, please fill out the Pet Preservation Agreement here:
No payment is required until after services are performed (except for cryopreservation). 
$350 for the pets of long-term members ($525 for new members or non-members)
This is our standard procedure using aldehyde-based preservation, which we believe offers the highest quality structural preservation of the brain. The fee includes the preservation procedure, cremation of the remaining body, indefinite refrigerated storage of the brain at our facility, and the return of ashes to the family if desired.
$3500 for pets of long-term members ($5250 for new members or non-members)
Storage at liquid nitrogen temperature (-196°C). We only offer this option in the case that chemical preservation is not possible, because the structural preservation quality is lower. The higher expense is not correlated with quality, it is just higher because it is more expensive to maintain this type of preservation over the very long term.
For local families, we can coordinate preservation directly at our facility. If desired, we can arrange for a local veterinarian to provide the euthanasia procedure on-site. By minimizing the time between legal death and preservation, this allows for the highest brain preservation quality.
After the pet has been pronounced legally deceased, our team performs the brain preservation procedure, including perfusion performed through the aorta. The brain is then carefully removed from the skull and placed into long-term storage in the patient vault at our facility. The remainder of the body is respectfully cremated, and the ashes can be returned to your family if you wish.
If this is the option you would like, please contact us in advance so we can help coordinate the timing with a local veterinarian and ensure that everything is arranged smoothly.
There are two options for remote cases.
The first option is to bring your pet to our facility or have them shipped to our facility, where we can perform the procedure. Including a small amount of dry ice in the shipping container can help keep the pet cooled, but risks the brain freezing. For more information, see our Pet Shipping Instructions.
The second option is to find someone to perform brain removal and immersion fixation close to where you live. You can try calling local veterinarian offices to see if they know of anyone who can perform necropsy services. You will need to pay them their fee directly.
The key procedure is for the brain to be removed from the skull and placed in a container with a sufficient amount of formaldehyde solution (such as 10% neutral buffered formalin) to fully submerge the brain. Ideally, this container will be stored at refrigerator temperature of approximately 4°C during this process. This all needs to be done as soon as possible after the legal death of the pet.
After around 4 weeks of fixation, the fixed brain can then be shipped to our facility for long-term preservation. All shipping fees and payments for local veterinarian services need to be paid by the owner. Once the patient’s brain arrives at our facility, we will accept them for long-term preservation at no cost.
Unfortunately, we have found that professionals who can perform this procedure are not very common. Also, removing a pet brain from the skull seems to be harder to perform without causing macroscopic damage than removing a human brain, which means that performing this properly is a more specialized procedure. However, we still offer this possibility as an option in case an owner prefers it.
How quickly do we need to act after my pet’s death?
Time is critical for preservation quality. Ideally, we begin the preservation as soon as possible after legal death. The brain should be kept cool (refrigerated, not frozen) during any delay.
Can I be present during the procedure?
While we understand the desire to stay with your pet, the preservation procedure is performed in our procedure room where, for safety reasons, only our trained staff can be present. However, you’re welcome to spend time with your pet beforehand in our facility. And you are also welcome to view the brain once it has been preserved.
My pet legally died and has already been frozen. Can I still ship them to your facility?
Yes. This is the case in which cryopreservation services make sense, because thawing the brain prior to chemical preservation will cause significant damage and must be avoided. Please see our Pet Shipping Instructions - Already Frozen.
Can you return my pet’s ashes?
Yes, after brain preservation, we respectfully cremate the rest of your pet's body. If you desire this, these ashes can be returned to you in a basic container at no additional cost.
Which types of pets can you preserve?
We only have experience with preserving dogs and cats. However, we are willing to try to preserve the brains of other companion animals as well. We have experience with both very large and very small dogs. Please contact us if you have any questions.
How does the pet preservation procedure work?
In an ideal case, we perform aldehyde perfusion through the aorta. After perfusion, the brain is immersed in aldehyde preservatives to provide complete preservation of the brain as quickly as possible. Finally, the brain is carefully removed from the skull and stored indefinitely at refrigerator temperature in a secure container filled with aldehyde-containing fluid. We have experience performing this procedure and we have learned how to minimize damage to the brain during it.
Can I pre-arrange for my pet’s preservation?
Yes, we strongly encourage advance planning. You can complete paperwork ahead of time, which allows everything to be arranged when the time comes and removes one concern during a difficult period.
How long will you store my pet’s brain?
Indefinitely. Once preserved, we are committed to maintaining your pet’s brain for as long as our organization exists. This commitment is included in your one-time preservation fee with no ongoing storage charges.
Can I preserve multiple pets?
Yes. Each pet requires its own preservation agreement and fee, but multiple people have chosen to arrange preservation for more than one pet with our organization.
Do I need to be signed up for preservation or a member to use this service?
No, becoming a member oneself is not required in order to preserve a pet. However, we very strongly encourage it. If Future Technology ever does advance to the point that revival from preservation becomes possible, this would only happen far in the future, most likely a century or more from now. Signing up for brain preservation means that both you and your pet can be preserved, creating the possibility of reunion in the future rather than leaving your pet preserved by themselves. For these reasons, when a pet is preserved, we strongly encourage the owner to sign up for preservation as well. This does not require any upfront payment. Please see our Services page for more information on how to do so.