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| (Photo by Russ Mitchell) A portion of De Wolf Park, seen here Monday afternoon in east Spencer, will be set aside for use as a pet cemetery. The roadside park could be available for pet burials in the spring. |
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Five years after the old hunting dog's death, Elizabeth Ann could soon get what her owner considers a proper burial.
Thanks to repeated pushing by Elizabeth Ann's owner, Ted Cate, the German shorthaired pointer may be laid to rest in what could be the first city-owned pet cemetery in the country.
The City Council in Spencer voted recently to move ahead with the plan, asking officials in the northwestern Iowa city to develop a more specific proposal.
Cate, an 85-year-old retired engineer, has been seeking a city-owned pet cemetery since his dog died. With the nearest privately owned pet cemetery in Iowa about 60 miles from Spencer, Cate had Elizabeth Ann cremated and keeps her ashes in an urn in his home office. He sees burial as a matter of respect for Elizabeth Ann and a benefit to the environment.
"It provides a legal and respectful place to bury your family pet," Cate said. "By burying your pet in a pet cemetery as opposed to burying it in your backyard, you eliminate the possibility of polluting the groundwater and hence your neighbor's well."
Brenda Drown, executive secretary for the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories, said she didn't know of any city that had taken a similar step.
"This will be the first one that I've heard of," said Drown, whose roughly 200-member nonprofit group is based in Ellenburg Depot, N.Y.
Drown said there are about 900 pet cemeteries across the country, most established by an individual or group that acquires land, then offers burial or crematory services.
"I think this is a very nice situation where the city is getting involved," she said. "It's great when they're promoting a pet cemetery."
Under Cate's plan, the city would establish the pet cemetery in part of De Wolf Park, a 10-acre area on the east edge of town. He proposed a fee of $60 for a cremated pet and $70 for a pet that's not cremated.
Cate said a "concerned citizen" has offered to pay for surveying the land where the pet cemetery would be located.
"It'll be owned by the city, and hopefully we'll have a private individual that will be burying the pets and so forth," he said. "He will not be a city employee, but he'll bury the pets and then charge the pet owner for doing so."
Cate said the cemetery wouldn't cost the city a dime, but some City Council members weren't so sure. They voted 4-3 on Nov. 16 to pursue the idea, with opponents questioning potential costs.
"I don't see how it's going to be cost neutral," Councilman Steve Bomgaars said. "In these tough budget times, we have more important things to think about and it shouldn't be at the top of the priority list."
Bomgaars and others also were skeptical about Cate's claim that the cemetery was needed because animal remains "can be filled with pathogenic organisms," making them potentially dangerous.
Bomgaars said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources would be involved if there were concerns.
"If the DNR thought that pet cemeteries were necessary, then this would be a state issue and the state would be mandating this sort of thing," he said. "Obviously, it's not on the state radar."
Iowa has regulations dealing with burying "massive quantities" of livestock but not pets, DNR spokeswoman Julie Sparks said.
"If you're talking about one or two animals, pets, dogs, cats, those kinds of things, we wouldn't have any kind of regulations regarding that," she said.
After the council agreed to pursue the idea, Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen said he would return in March or April with details about finances, whether a pet cemetery would be allowed in a park, how animals would be buried and whether the cemetery would be limited to pets owned by Spencer residents.
Councilman David Scott said he supported the proposal because he wants to be responsive to residents.
"I think that something like this is important to certain people in terms of peace of mind," Scott said. "If that's something that enhances the quality of life then I think it's a good thing and worthy of our support."
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Local coverage of the 4-3 pet cemetery vote appeared in the Tuesday, Nov. 17, edition of The Daily Reporter. The story "Pet cemetery passes on split vote" also is online at spencerdailyreporter.com. Type in "pet cemetery" as a search at the top of the Web site to find the story and read reactions from that night's Spencer City Council meeting.
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please
Let's hope before the city approves this they bring the other parks up to snuff. East Leach Park playground area is a mess and has been sorely neglected.
This is one more thing the city has no business spending money on in these terrible times. Please, I'm begging you....City of Spencer...spend your time and resources on getting jobs into the area. It should be your number one (and practically only) concern. It is the main thing that matters. Gosh, you people just don't get it.
I wonder though, how much would it really cost? If it's unused land and they charge $60-70 a burial, it might actually make a small amount of money.
I think this a wonderful idea. Pets become just like children for those of use who have them. I wouldn't dream of doing anything but having a proper burial for my dear canine.
Pets are a very important part of many peoples lives, however, when my pets die, I choose to have them buried where they spent their lives, on my property. People won't spend $60-70 to have their pet buried. They won't even spend that much to adopt an animal from a shelter. Rabbits, squirrels, bird, raccoons, etc. die everyday and I don't think they are contaminating the water. There are much bigger problems in town right now other than if we should have a pet cemetary or not. I hope the council chooses to focus on those things first.
Some people don't plan on staying on their particular property forever.
Besides, it costs that much for a general cremation with no ashes returned at many vet clinics. Private cremation can cost more than $200. It might be a nice alternative to bury the pet in a local cemetery.
I used to live in Portland, OR, and they had a law making it illegal to bury pets in your yard. I don't remember the exact details, though.
A pet cemetary is wonderful. There are several of them where I live and they are just as pretty as a humane cemetery! Hopefully the vandals will leave them alone! You buy the lot and pay for the burial.
Aimee, you said exactly what I was going to type. Thanks!
The City will not be spending taxpayer dollars or utility earnings on the pet cemetery. Establishing the pet cemetery will create a part-time job at no cost to the city, which should be a welcome change of policy. It is next to impossible to bury a pet within the city limits and be in compliance with State regulations. If your neighbor was to bury a diseased pet within a few feet of your well, you would be more than a little concerned. Pets don't just die of old age, some die of diseases just like we humans do. There are six common diseases that are waterborne, namely, Cholera, Botulism, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Dysentery, and Polio. With the establishment of a pet cemetery, petowners will have four choices for disposal of their pets, 1-Internment in the pet cemetery, 2-Cremation, 3-The City landfill where it will be treated as ordinary garbage, and 4-A rendering works where it will be cooked for its by-products.
Some of us have only our pets to really love us in our latter years. Respect for them seem a fair pursuit. I don't use playground, stolleys, swimming pool, schools and their athletic elements, skate park, or trails. All of these have no charge for those who do use them, and we would not want to deprive those who do, enjoy them.
When my beloved animal is gone to their final nap, I would like to visit them, regardless of where I then may live. Who wants to buy a house where dead animals have been interred? Happy gardening!