New York Pet Cemeteries Now Accept Human Remains

(Photo: Shawn Inglima/New York Daily News)

Even if you love your pets, it can be hard to spend eternity with them using conventional funeral arrangements. Kerry Vera, pictured above, has a solution: she wants her cremated remains fed to her dog as a means of doing so.

But if you live in the State of New York, you may not have to resort to such extreme measures. The state government now permits pet cemeteries to bury human remains:

The new rules resolve a two-year-old dispute that began when the state refused to allow the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Westchester to accept the ashes of a former NYPD officer who wanted to spend his afterlife with his three Maltese pups.
The cop’s niece, upstate attorney Taylor York, took on her uncle’s cause and battled the state to allow the burial.
“People do get a sense of comfort from knowing they can lie for eternity with their beloved pet, that they can be loved and protected in the afterlife just as faithfully as when they were alive,” York said.

Link -via Ace of Spades HQ

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I was advised by my Vet (who was advised by Hartsdale Pet Cemetery) that my pet's ashes would be scattered at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. It turned out that they were not; instead, I was advised after the fact, that they were placed in Wappingers Falls. After spending quite a bit of time with the owners via email and phone re: inaccuracies on their website and what was being advised to Veterinarians, I was advised they would not alert Vets to the changes that took place because it would impact their business adversely. Pet Owners and Vets should be aware of this. It's not fair to lie to those who are grieving the loss of a pet. Although I could have visited Hartsdale Pet Cemetery where I thought her remains would be, I have no option to visit Wappingers Falls. This is wrong, and the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery Owners should be ashamed of themselves for putting profits over people.

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Can't they just build a human pet-friendly cemetery so everyone knows that they and their loved ones might be buried by a pet rat? I find it no less dignified to be buried beside a horse as I do to be laid down beside someone's grandpa.

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That could be it.

Respectful people might hesitate to build over a human cemetery, but not a pet cemetery.

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Not all people have pets and perhaps some would find it upsetting to think of their loved one buried next to someone else's pet rat. Loses a bit of the dignity and sanctity, I think.

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Me too. I decided perhaps I'd like to be cremated, and have my remains mixed with those of my pet and scattered somewhere nice by a loved one.

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