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A pet's final resting place

A cemetery now has a burial place for pets nearby, so even in death, pets and their owners can be together.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published September 17, 2006

PALM HARBOR - Carl and Mary Corrello know that one sad day Randy and Jack will ascend to that giant dog park in the sky, never again to bark at pesky squirrels or chase bunnies along the shady footpaths of East Lake Woodlands.

But the couple can't bear the thought of cremating Jack, a frisky Jack Russell terrier, or Randy, a sweet-natured Sheltie, stuffing their ashes in an urn and putting them on a shelf.

So they spent $890 for side-by-side burial plots for the 7-year-old pooches.

Both dogs are destined for the Garden of Love section of Curlew Hills Memory Gardens Pet Cemetery. It's just 100 yards from the couple's own final resting place at the Meditation Mausoleum at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens.

This way, the family will stay together, even in death.

"This is a wonderful option," said Mary Corrello, 60, smiling at Jack, who was passed out on the tile floor after a day of playing with his favorite Kong toy.

Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, which operates a crematory, cemetery and funeral home, boasts the only human cemetery within Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Manatee counties with a pet cemetery connected to it, says president and CEO Keenan Knopke.

It took a year to create the pet cemetery and to give it the same dignified look as the neighboring human resting place, just across a long, winding path.

The staff cleared a half acre of undedicated land, meaning it is not to be used for burying human bodies in accordance with state regulations, and installed a white gazebo for funeral services. Workers also planted an array of red and pink roses and crape myrtle trees.

Although human bodies cannot be buried on this land, human ashes can be interred in urns next to their pet's ashes in the ground or in a columbarium, a vault with niches for urns.

The pet cemetery has four sections: the Garden of Angels, Heaven's Playground, the Garden of Love and Trail's End. In all, the pet cemetery has 1,500 spaces.

Prices range from $395 for a small pet burial space to $4,995 for a niche bench. Animals can be buried with their bodies intact or as cremains.

Granite memorials range from $595 to $1,095, and come in three colors: blue, morning rose and jet black.

"One reason our prices are higher is because part of the purchase price will go toward perpetual care," Knopke said. "They (the pets) will always be there. Once it's a cemetery, it's always a cemetery. We are issuing a certificate of ownership."

Curlew Hills' first memorial service took place Friday afternoon for J.J., an 14-year-old cat who passed away quietly Thursday. She was buried in the Garden of Love near the gazebo. Her grave site was surrounded by her grieving family.

The cemetery was created 25 years ago out of 30 gently sloping acres of citrus groves on the north side of Curlew Road. Curlew birds still walk along the shores of its five lakes on the grounds and the wind whistles through 2,000 trees, creating an aura of peace.

"The cemetery is designed to be uplifting, Knopke said. "Not cold, not distant, not depressing."

The memorials on pet graves will feature pictures and inscriptions depicting the whole range of human affection for domesticated animals.

"They can bring in their fish, dog or cat," Knopke said. "I just hope not an elephant."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.

[Last modified September 17, 2006, 06:54:09]