Minden Representative Wayne McMahan is once again trying to make it legal for pet owners to have the cremated remains of their pet buried with them. McMahan, who’s also a retired veterinarian, said in the past three decades, pets have become part of the family.
As the law stands now, “Burial of anything but human remains in a cemetery is illegal. You can put some personal property in there; we know that’s been done. The remains of a living person or being is supposed to be just human.”
Last year McMahan said the Cemetery Association opposed the bill and said it’s too expensive for a pet’s remains to be buried with their owners. The bill allows for a cemetery to decide if they will permit it or not, the bill just makes it legal to do so.
“I feel like there’s probably a cemetery or two out that might come around to thinking that might be the thing to do.”
And the bill clearly outlines that the cremated pet must have passed before the person who wishes to have the remains buried with them.
“You can’t go have your pet euthanized to accommodate the death of a person. The pet would’ve had to have passed away before the person, the pet cremated, and the remains be placed to include with the burial.”
McMahan says while the practice is currently illegal, he suspects the law is broken routinely.
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