In the News: Massachusetts lawmakers consider bill to allow owners be buried with their pet

Here's an article that I found interesting. Nice to see that some places are realizing that some pet parents feel like their dogs and cats are their children and should be buried together. 

In the News: Massachusetts lawmakers consider bill to allow owners be buried with their pet


By Michelle Williams |  Mass Live
  June 24, 2015 at 8:41 AM

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow pet owners to be with man's best friend even in the afterlife.

FILE - In this file photo of Jan. 19, 2011 photo, headstones marking the graves of pets are spread throughout the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, N.Y., the first burial ground for animals named to the National Register of Historic Places. The 116-year-old Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, final home to some 75,000 animals and a few hundred humans, is being designated for its "social history and landscape architecture." ((AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File))

A new bill to allow cemeteries to bury deceased pets with their former owners was discussed during a Joint Committee on Public Health hearing on Tuesday. Massachusetts law currently prohibits cemeteries from letting humans and animals be buried together.
Rep. Nick Collins, a Boston Democrat, sponsored the bill and emphasized Tuesday that it wouldn't force cemeteries to allow pets, only make the option legal. The language would allow for both human and animal remains be buried together, including cremated remains, in a designated portion of a cemetery.
Animal Advocate Bill Trabucco, of Dorchester, spoke on behalf of the bill, State House News Service reports. "They're a family member. They just happen to have four legs and fur," said he said. "They'll give you undying love and loyalty, and I think we all know being part of the human race, we don't always get that from each other."
Trabucco, the owner of eight cats, two dogs and two birds, told SHNS he'd like to be buried with them. "All 12 and the ones who passed before," he said. He added that he'd like his wife buried alongside him as well.
Massachusetts Cemetery Association, which represents non-profit, private and religious cemeteries, opposes the bill on religious, environmental and sanitation reasons. A legislative agent for the association said they're willing to work with proponents to present a bill they both agree on.