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There are more than 600 active Pet Cemeteries in the
United States. Of these, about 400 are good operating
businesses.
Most Pet Cemeteries operate in conjunction
with other pet related business: boarding kennels,
grooming salons, training centers and Veterinarian
Hospitals. Some Human Cemeteries have set aside a
portion of their ground for pet burials. Some Pet
Cemeteries operate on a full time basis, specifically
dedicated to the burial or cremation of pets.
The oldest known Pet Cemetery was
uncovered in Green County, IL by archaeologist, Dr.
Stewart Schrever. He believes the pets were interred
there around 6500 BC-
The oldest operating Pet Cemetery
in the United States is the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery
in New York, established in 1896.
The largest Pet Cemetery in the United
States is Bide-A-Wee Home Association, also located
in New York. Bide-A-Wee operates at least three animal
shelters, as well as its satellite Pet Cemeteries
and has over 5000 pets in one site alone.
Of the thousands of pets that die
each day, less than 200 are buried in Pet Cemeteries.
Local or County ordinances determine
whether or not a pet can be buried at home. These
laws are set up mainly due to the health hazards caused
by other animals trying to dig them up.
A Pet Cemetery should be so deeded
to insure pet owners that their remains will not be
disturbed by land development, etc... They should
also maintain a Care Fund (as do Human Cemeteries)
to insure that funds will be available for the continuing
maintenance of the grounds and roadways. Access should
be kept open in the event of development around a
Pet Cemetery. The land should be owned by the proprietors
or cemetery corporation, not leased or rented.
There are no 'Magical Burial Grounds'.
It is the pet owners responsibility to determine the
disposition of the pet's body. Pets left at clinics
or hospitals can be: sent to local land fill, sent
to rendering plants, or incinerated, sent to local
pet cemeteries for communal burial or sent to local
pet cemeteries for private burial. The final decision
belongs to the pet owner.
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