Catholic priest sues town and pet owner over dog burial

He had to draw the line somewhere. His name is Rev. Gerald Baker, from Morganfield. In today's post is Uniontown, Kentucky's city cemetery where, since 1999 a little rat terrier was buried without a headstone. That is without a headstone... until last summer. "The stone read, "In memory of S___head". Evidently, those who had purchased plots started asking for their money back. Now there is legislation, House Bill 242. The Uniontown city government has since revised their policy of pet burials in its city cemetery to say that pet burials are NOT ALLOWED. The case was settled out of court and the woman, Ms./Mrs. Hagan, removed her dog from the cemetery along with its headstone. The article indicated that she had the best intentions in mind and meant no disrespect. I wonder, exactly, the argument of the Rev. Gerald Baker, of the Diocese of Owensboro, serving St. Ann Catholic Church in Morganfield. Mass Schedule St Ann Parish , 304 Church St., Morganfield, KY 42437 Phone: (270) 389-2287 Fax: (270) 389-0219

" Hagan maintained she had first obtained the verbal approval of the
former Uniontown mayor before burying her dog. She was not available for comment Thursday, but earlier told The Gleaner she meant no disrespect to anyone -- she just loved her dog, smelly name and all."

Commonwealth of Kentucky Legislative Research Commission
General Assembly Local Mandate Fiscal Impact Estimate

2008 REGULAR SESSION
Measure Information
Bill Request #: 339
Bill #: HB 242

Bill Subject/Title: Public cemeteries,
burial of animals

Sponsor: Rep. John Arnold

Unit of Government: X City X County X Urban-County
X Charter County X Consolidated Local

Office(s) Impacted General government

Requirement: X Mandatory  Optional

Effect on   
Powers & Duties X Modifies Existing
Adds New  Eliminates Existing
Purpose and Mechanics

HB 242 amends KRS 381.697 to prohibit the burial of
animals in public cemeteries unless written consent
is obtained from the cemetery owners or board.

Fiscal Explanation, Bill Provisions, and Estimated Cost

The fiscal impact of HB 242 on local governments is minimal
and limited to those local governments that own or operate
public cemeteries. There are currently 80 cemeteries in
Kentucky that are owned or operated by local governments,
primarily cities.  Unless prohibition of the burial of animals
is already a rule in these cemeteries, it will be necessary
for cemetery administrators to amend their rules and change
any literature or signs that address cemetery rules.

Data Source(s): Attorney General's Office


Preparer: Mary Lynn Collins Reviewer:  Date:

Cemetery Surveys Inc

I found this group on Yahoo and I've added their links to the right. The website also has an area to add a link, which is quite helpful if you are researching cemeteries on line. Their website is fantastic. The following excerpt is from the Yahoo Group, Cemetery Survey's Inc.

"Hello and thanks for joining Cemetery Surveys, Inc! We are a locally based (NC/GA), non profit organization who travel the country side surveying cemeteries with digital cameras, chalk, and lots of sunscreen! I won't bore you with the history of how we started, but the end result is our website, which is continually updated, www.cemeterysurveysinc.com ... we appreciate your patronage, encourage your participation, and absolutely love what we do!!
Thanks and we look forward to seeing you on the web!
Rose Birdwell, President & the crew of CSI (Cemetery Surveys, Inc)!
birdwellrose@yahoo.com"

North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 125 Veterans Cemeteries

January 10, 2008 - Cemetery Genealogy News
One week delay from Topica

Forest Hill Cemeteries and Funeral Homes in Tennessee

In the news. "...Smart announced in July 2006 that he wouldn't honor prepaid Forest Hill funeral policies in full. Until Tennessee seized the funeral properties and began honoring the policies again, families had to pay thousands of dollars extra to bury policy holders..." A search from the Dept. of Commerce and Insurance indicated that in May 2006 the funeral home was fined a mere $1,250.00 combined for failure to provide services after two years of receiving payment and disrespecting the memory of the dead.

Burial Services Program
Respondent: Forest Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park – East, Memphis, TN
Violation: Failure to maintain the cemetery so as to reflect respect for the memory of the
dead
Action: $250 Civil Penalty

Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers
Respondent: Forest Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park – South, Memphis, TN
Violation: Immoral or unprofessional conduct – failure to furnish contracted merchandise
or services for two years after receiving payment
Action: $1000 Civil Penalty

With Civil penalties that are this small it appears to be an open invitation to re-offend. Unfortunately, this case is associated with another in Michigan involving over 70 million dollars. 22 million was involved in the Forest Hill case according to the article today. Previous articles indicated that sentencing was scheduled for a man found guilty on Jan. 24th. This case is set for trial on March 3.

You can read about the Michigan case here.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 125 Veterans Cemeteries

Today's Cemetery Genealogy News is offline.