AUBURN — An Auburn woman is getting ready to open a business she says many people find disgusting, but which she says provides a critical service.

Michelle Melaragno’s business called Compassionate Composting Inc. composts the carcasses of large dead animals, mostly horses and cows.

Construction on her facility has started and she hopes to open for business in mid-November. She tells the Sun Journal she has already turned away requests to compost 21 horses.

She says state law for disposing of dead horses and cows is complex and expensive, and for many people, misunderstood.

The goal is to produce a commercially viable compost that can be sold to wholesalers, or even to the animal’s original owner, who can use it in their own gardens.


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