Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would remove and put back to natural state. It's the safest way to go. In our state it would be necessary to disclose to
the buyers that it had once been a pet cemetery however. Best of luck with your sale!
At any rate, my opinion on the topic at hand would be....take them...how awful, or at least disconcerting, to find boxes or jars or skulls and skeletons as one plants or digs for some reason and to have to dispose of them. (That said, I'm not averse to artifacts...but fairly recent small pets....)
I don't think the OP was going to dig up the remains...just take the headstones.
I, too, have several pets buried in my yard. I would never dig them up if I moved. I would probably not remove the rocks that mark their grave sites, either, since the rocks are part of the landscaping now. So if someone else would ever dig in that area in the future, yeah, they are going to find skeletons.
I don't think the OP was going to dig up the remains...just take the headstones.
I, too, have several pets buried in my yard. I would never dig them up if I moved. I would probably not remove the rocks that mark their grave sites, either, since the rocks are part of the landscaping now. So if someone else would ever dig in that area in the future, yeah, they are going to find skeletons.
I know. I just think that's an odd prospect. I'm not at all against or afraid of even human cemeteries on very old property. I know some historic properties where it's deeded that if someone in the family wants to be buried there still, they have to be allowed. I know of one where the family that has rights to the cemetery doesn't keep it up well and the property owners do instead. I find the old small cemeteries intriguing.
And,again, pet cemeteries are fine.
But there seems to be something different about even a hidden pet cemetery and leaving one's pets that were loved enough to not have the vet toss them in the dump or the group cemetery, but little enough to leave them behind in a hidden area to be possibly found by others. Something about leaving parts of yourself behind for others to possibly find. If I dug up someone's pet remains I would think why in the world did they want me to find these.
If you decide to rake over it to the natural state, I'd be sure to let the future home owners know that the remains are there. I'd be devastated if we sold our property and the new owners disturbed our beloved pet's remains.
If they are pet owners, they will most likely respect those graves. If they have never owned a pet, they wouldn't understand how sacred those graves are to you.
I know this might be a very hard thing to do, but if the future owners are aghast at the thoughts of keeping those remains on their property, I'd dig them up, take them with me and rebury them in a quiet place where the bones would be unlikely to be disturbed (for my lifetime at least).
Note: I don't know about other people, but we buried our pets in those hard plastic tote boxes. I'm not sure how the plastic holds up over the years of being buried but from what I understand, some types plastic lasts for decades in landfill sites.
And, as my father said everytime we drove by one of those huge cemeteries alongside the Long Island Expressway, "What a waste of good real estate."
I used to think that too. Now I think that whenever I see another sprawling subdivision or acres of parking lots surrounding big box stores--where farms and forests used to be. What a waste of good real estate.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.