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New Bill Would Allow You to be Buried with Your Pet, Die Less Alone

Pet-friendly burial plots may soon be legal.
Image by Marija Mandic via Stocksy

When New York real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley died in 2007, she left nearly the entirety of her multibillion-dollar estate to be used for "the care and welfare of dogs." Helmsley, dubbed "the Queen of Mean" for her disdain of humanity in general, excluded two grandsons from her will entirely and bequeathed $12 million to her fluffy, white Maltese, Trouble. In her will, Helmsley asked that her beloved pup, who died in 2011 at age 12, be laid to rest alongside her mistress. But it's possible Helmsley's final wish was stalled due to regulations in New York that forbid "the interring of nonhuman remains at human cemeteries."

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Recently, however, the New York State Senate passed a bill that would allow people to be buried with the cremated remains of their beloved pets at nonreligious cemeteries as long as the burials take place at the same time. The bill's sponsor, State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer noted that 62 percent, or approximately 72.9 million, US households include a pet. With increased pet ownership, cemetery organizations are receiving more frequent requests from lot owners to have their pets interred alongside them.

The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, in operation since 1896, has long understood the lifelong connection people make with their pets—so they offer options. Prices for the plot, casket, and interment of a small pet begin at under $1,800. With nearly 80,000 pets buried there, it's clear many people are willing to pay for human-like memorial for their deceased pets.

Ed Martin Jr., who has served as the director of the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery for 42 years, thinks the state bill is a great idea. While you will not find any information about it on their website, Hartsdale has offered a similar service since 2013, when a regulation granted the cemetery rights to inter human ashes along with pet remains.

"I'll be curious to see if the final bill has the same requirement," Martin said. "We regret that we can't advertise, because a lot of people would like it. It's a great idea. It will make people happy."

If the bill passes, human cemeteries will be able to charge fees for the the internment of animals. Pet burials will also have to be incidental to the burial of human remains, meaning, pet owners will have to keep their pet's ashes until their own deaths.

So while poor little Trouble took a lot of heat for her inheritance—the New York Times referred to her as "the world's most hated Maltese"—Leona Helmsley's desire to spend the afterlife with the dog may not have been nearly as eccentric as it seemed. However, it's likely the billionaire, who was convicted of tax evasion and once told an employee that only "the little people" pay taxes, skirted the rules all along. Trouble was to be laid to rest in the Helmsley family mausoleum. Mausoleums are considered private property and thus not subject to the same ordinances that govern other burial places.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo must still sign the bill before it becomes law, and before the "little people" can legally rest in peace alongside their pets in human cemeteries.