Show pi '' 'gnwym-- w mr yWraw ffW piiptmUtii tpmw i wmW wvm 0t0'mi — vK Weddings 22 Crossword 28 I Tho Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday July 12 1998 - ) Jerry Roger of RaMgh NC has owned tho Pat Rest Camelary for eight years but N has bean in operation lines 1972 do 9 11 living matter eventually doesn’t — live X JL that is — but what happens after that depends on what sort of matter it was that stopped living In other words a houseplant gets throws out while you get buried Your pet however can go either way Only the most willfully ignorant pet owner doesn’t know what happens to an ailing animal alter it is put to sleep A particularly scrupulous veterinarian may explain it bin others observe a don't askdoo’t tell policy Unleu you inouire they won’t teD you dead pets are simply dumped in the landfill At die other aid of that continuum is the Pet Rest Cemetery “We have people who will go out there every week sit and meditate says owner Jerry Rogers “During holidays they'll put flowers on than just like a human "We have people who will go out there every week sit and meditate During holidays thellput flowers on them just like a human grave" jnvc There are nearly 3000 imil buried in the Pet Rest Cemetery on US 70 between Raleigh and Durham Their owners have spent as much as $800 to have them buried Animals at Pet Rest Cemetery always go to the grave in a casket Pet owners “have to buy one" Rogers says MWe don't bury (pen) in a box or bag or something Abo its common far graves to be marked with carved stone monuments You'll find Cuddles Scany Misty Fluffy Precious Smoky Duchess Boots and even Spot resting there You’ll find animals with names i that seem to reflect some private passion their owners (Pepsi Sputnik) and animals with i that were meaningful only to a small circle of people (Mico Goto Shamus Pocotito) There are animals whose names were whimsical (Capt Nick Danger — -- p' Myers “the big dog in the hack yard" according to his marker ) and animals whose names were so ordinarily human (Bob Slone Claudia I Wiggs) that far a moment you’ll wonder whether a horrible mix-u- p sent someone Restlawn to Pet Rest instead And you’ll find expressions of grief as profound as those meant for people "Time cannot change the memories that we carry in our declares the marker of Scoicha Seconds a Jerry Rogers Owner Pet Rest Cemetery 9 ! p1 ' ' £ - - 'f Vr ‘ M-- t OfiS v V " v: Casknts and tombstones ww ' hearts' i on dspiay a! the Pet Rest Cemetery Saint Bernad that— if the photograph sttachedhis matter is to be believed — could often be found with an enormous bowl of dog food between his look on his droopy fare paws and a In fact gnef is what the whole business is just-txy- -it pet-buri- al yftnwf "There isn’t a good acceptable way for society to I recognize the death of a pet” says Tom Lane who oversees the University of Florida's Pet Loss Support Hotline which people call to be comforted Other pet owners log onto the Virtual Pet Cemetery an Internet site where animals are memorialized with anecdotes poems and testimonials There for instance you can learn about Blackie: Here lies Blackie Chased a car Caught in die muffler Dragged through the tar Around die comer Across the tracks He might not be dead But he never came back You also can read about Touche Turtle a desert tortoise who belonged to a young boy until the day the animal was discovered unmoving and lifeless The boy kept him for a couple of days but decided Touche needed a proper burial so the turtle was put into a cardboard box and interred in a deep hole in the youngster’s back yard Yean later the boy — now grown — “discovered to my horror that desert tortoises hibernate through the winter'' according to his online testimonial “I'm wherever you are! Please forgive me!” sorry Tbuche That process — short of burying the animal alive of course — is exactly the sort of thing recommended by the University of Florida hot line at (3S2) 0 Ext 4080 which is staffed by volunteers and veterinary students who counsel people win have lost a pet Some 500 times a year pet owners from all over the country call to talk about their newly dead friend To themunesays “it’s just like losing a family member - 392-470- The hot line’s counselon are as much as anything a sympathetic eat A pet owner's friends and neighbon have limited sympathy spans and some — who don’t even bother to hide their exasperation — will point out it was just a pet and thtf replacements are readily available But you won’t hear that from (he hot line's staffers They'll listen as long as someone wants to talk then suggest some tangible ways to deal with the grief: planting a tree having a memorial service or performing a burial ceremony Operating a pet cemetery is not a business to get into if you want to get rich says Rogers who also owns Plants Unlimited in Durham which is how he supports himself And it’s not a business to get into if you don’t have a taste for bizarre happenstance: The day a box arrived by pared post from New York for instance and when opened was found to contain a dead mo- nel's also an industry dial endured a severe public-relatioproblems a few yean back The operaton of a Long Island NY pet cemetery were dunged with fraud in 1991 after dumping lens of thousands of animals in mass graves instead of performing private and individual burials and cremations as advertised The cemetery's two owners were each later convicted on 43 counts We tell people they can be diere whet we bury (their animals )” Rogers says We encourage it Ninety-fiv- e percent of pet owners take him up on the ns offer Text and Photos by Scripps Howard News Service ' Monday Homefront: Social skills for kids Features: t L 752-212- 1 |