Friday, July 30, 2010
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| 6/2/2008 9:16:00 PM |
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Pet cemetery home not only to pets, but also to people
Sara Bailey
Putnam News Editor
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| A little bit of everything, the pet cemetery contains snakes, cats, dogs, ferrets and even a bear. Photo by Samir Abdel-Aziz |
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(Due to owner J.L. Bowling's illness, some of the information in the following story comes from an interview published in The Charleston Gazette in 1999.)
WINFIELD - When you've lost your pet, you should know that you have other options than just burying it in your back yard - you can bury it in a grave and have a tombstone. You can even be buried near your pet.
In the 1960s, J. L. Bowling, of St. Albans, began the pet burial business when he would make steel boxes in his sheet metal business and give them to people for them to put their dead pets in. Finally, two schoolteachers asked Bowling to start a pet cemetery.
In 1967, Bowling purchased 45 acres on state Rt. 34 from a friend and started burying pets. Also located on the site is Bowling's sheet metal business.
Howard Hunter now runs the pet cemetery and has worked for Bowling for 24 years.
The cemetery has "a little bit of everything," Hunter said, from snakes, birds, and sheep to dogs, cats, ferrets, and horses. There is even a bear and a $7,000 greyhound.
About 20 years ago, a pet store in St. Albans burned down and all the animals died. They are all buried at the cemetery.
Currently, Hunter said there are more than 40,000 pets on the grounds, and there are also people. Hunter said that people can be buried beside their pet.
"For a lot of people, these pets aren't a pet, they're family," he said.
Bowling's wife is buried on the grounds among their 14 Dalmatians, one Beagle, and one cat.
The pet cemetery has pets buried from all over the country and even the world, including Washington, Baltimore, and Japan. Even politicians have pets buried in Winfield. Former governor Arch Moore has two pets buried there.
Hunter said that one lady has more than 90 pets, mostly cats, buried there. Others have just one pet, but some have up to 20.
The grounds are a very peaceful place. Hunter said that wildlife, such as geese and rabbits roam the grounds, and there is a pond. People can fish in it, but they have to have a permit from the office, Hunter said.
To bury a pet, the lots cost $75, except if you want to bury a horse, it will cost more. The pets are put in caskets or metal boxes. You can also purchase a headstone for your pet. Headstones start at $75 and go up. One headstone on the grounds cost $2,000. Human burial costs more than the pets. Pets can also be cremated.
Hunter said the cemetery employees can go out to the homes and pick up the dead pet, or people can bring the pet to the cemetery. Owners can watch their pets be buried.
"Sometimes people come out and have services," Hunter said.
He said Catholic priests and regular preachers have been out to say some words at the burial.
To contact the cemetery, you can call 757-7044.
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