Florida passed a piece of legislation that allows humans to be buried with their pets. Previously, funeral homes were prohibited from handling animal remains and ashes of humans and animals could not be co-mingled.
At the Best Friends Animal Hospital at Gateway, office manager, Rainy Hoy, said about half of their clients take home their pet’s ashes. “They just want to keep them. They’re like family to them,” Hoy said.
Fort Myers resident Joe Castrogiovanni wouldn’t consider euthanizing his 2-year-old dog Barkley to put him in the casket, but he would consider saving Barkley’s ashes.
“It may be a little weird, but he’s like the son I never had,” Castrogiovanni said.
Jay O’Shaughnessy, funeral director for Anderson Funeral Home of Fort Myers with more than 30 years’ experience, said he has received requests from clients wanting their loved ones to be buried with remains of their pet.
“It’s not a real new deal. We’ve done stranger things than that,” he said. “It’s always the family’s idea.” Complete article here.
He’s right, it’s not unusual. Urngarden has received several requests for urns large enough to contain the pet owner and the ashes of their cats or dogs. Or couples that have left instructions for their children to bury their ashes in the back yard with the family pets.
We had a dog, dear Bonnie, that I always thought I’d have taxidermied so we could enjoy her to the end. She died on a camping trip and had to be buried on the spot. Looking back, I’m glad we didn’t have the opportunity to get her stuffed!
Now, my two precious pups I’ll probably sprinkle somewhere, or maybe I’ll save their ashes to be packed into a mortar shell with me!
