OMHS
Pet cemetery
The move is in preparation “for the future relocation and redevelopment of the shelter to better serve the animal welfare needs of our community.”
OMHS has been working to notify families, who have pets buried in the cemetery, for a few years now. Reassurance is being given that “all remains will be properly stored until a new shelter and memorial location can be created.” Families can also reclaim their pet’s remains and associated recognition plaque(s).
The expertise of Dr. Tracy Rogers, Associate Professor in Anthropology and Program Director of the Forensic Science Program at the University of Toronto, has also been retained. Over the next 12 to 18 months, Dr. Rogers, along with her students and colleagues, will excavate over 500 burial plots “which date back to 1953 with the last plot acquired in 1991.”
Executive Director Jeff Vallentin believes OMHS is “dedicated to providing the utmost care of these beloved pets and are grateful for the expertise that Dr. Rogers and her team bring to this important project.”
Dr. Rogers further elaborated by revealing that her team’s priority “is to ensure the proper documentation and excavation of the graves, in order to recover the pets as carefully and respectfully as possible.”
The project will also provide Dr. Rogers’ students with a unique opportunity to develop practical skills, while helping them “understand why care and consideration of those we recover from any context (historic, modern, or forensic) is so important to the families who love them.”
