Posted on 01/14/2009 1:23:07 PM PST by Daffynition
Forget the notion that dogs are man's best friend. To Sen. Ken Jacobsen no dog could compare to his beloved cat, Sam.
So when the spunky 23-pound family pet died several years ago, Jacobsen was left wondering what to do with him.
"I realized Sam would have wanted to be buried with my remains, right in North Seattle," Jacobsen said Tuesday.
The idea first started as a joke, but when Jacobsen later decided to see if humans and pets could be buried together, he discovered it isn't allowed in cemeteries meant for humans.
This week, the Seattle Democrat known for proposing quirky legislation filed a bill, Senate Bill 5063, that would prevent cemeteries from rejecting animal remains and allow the commingling of human and pet remains.
The legislation only covers dogs and cats a limitation Jacobsen said he hoped would increase the bill's chances of approval.
State law currently defines a cemetery "as a place used or intended to be used for the placement of human remains" implying no pets allowed. The only way to be legally buried alongside your four-legged friend is to have your ashes interred in a pet cemetery.
Louis Clarke, owner of Pethaven Cemetery in Kent, thinks the bill is a good idea. The cremated remains of more than 20 people have been buried at his cemetery because the deceased wished to be with their pets.
"Sometimes people ask for their ashes to be mixed in one urn that's how connected many people feel to their pets," Clarke said.
One gravestone of human and pet remains in the cemetery reads simply, "I loved my pets."
But David Bielski, who owns human and pet cemeteries in Aberdeen, was shocked when he heard about the bill.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
In some states burying your pet in the backyard is illegal.
I love that, is there a Ralphs nearby?
Why doesn’t he cremate the cat and have the ashes put in his casket?
Too much is “illegal”.
Seattle. Figures.
“Dogs and cats buried together. Mass hysteria.”
FMCDH(BITS)
You got that right.
The plot thickens........
This undated image shows a human burial in Cyprus with cat skeleton, bottom, that is estimated to be 9,500 years old. The research team of National Museum of Natural History in Paris uncovered the carefully buried cat on Cyprus, placed just inches from a human burial that also contained polished stones, shells, tools and jewelry.
“I realized Sam would have wanted to be buried with my remains, right in North Seattle,” Jacobsen said Tuesday.”
Anything that licks its own butt doesn’t care what happens to its remains.
Last year I saw a family plot in a cemetery (not in Washington state) that had a marker for the family dog alongside the markers for the human members of the family...I assume the marker means that the dog was buried at that spot.
Hey, I didn’t watch my buddies die face down in the mud so this strumpet could be buried with his cat. Oh, sorry...
I can’t see any kind of valid reason for insisting upon no animal remains near human remains.
... and starts to make it own gravy.
When my mothers house is eventually up for sale....hopefully years from now...the new owners will end up with a pet cemetary!!!!
Dogs rule, cats .....
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