WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Another cemetery has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, but this one's a little different. It has dogs and cats and iguanas and a lion cub.
The 116-year-old Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in the New York City suburbs is the first animal burial ground to win the honor.
The
designation "is a fitting way to recognize the longstanding and
significant role pets have played in our national history and culture,"
said Carol Shull, interim Keeper of the National Register.
Kevin Moriarty, a historian for the register, said Friday that Hartsdale
is the only pet cemetery among the 2,698 cemeteries on the register. He
said Hartsdale is notable because it marks a sharp change in how humans
related to animals.
"It was
in the early 20th century that pets began to be considered family
members rather than livestock," he said. "Before then, a dead animal was
likely to go out with the garbage."
The cemetery became popular with artists and celebrities — George Raft and Mariah Carey have buried pets there.
About
75,000 animals and 700 pet owners are buried at the cemetery, which is
on a woodsy slope in Hartsdale about 20 miles north of Manhattan.
Its
many evocative markers often draw tourists. One, written by a man about
his cat, says, "Here we sleep forever, I and my beloved Bibi, my loving
companion for fourteen years." Another marker has 16 pets' names
engraved into granite.
In 2008, a travel guide listed the cemetery
among the world's 10 best places to be entombed — along with the Taj
Mahal and the Great Pyramids.
Hartsdale briefly ran into trouble
with state regulators last year for allowing pet owners' ashes in with
their animals, but the regulators eventually relented.
Ed Martin
Jr., president and director of the cemetery, said he was delighted with
the "honor and prestige" of the historic designation. A celebration on
the grounds is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Martin said the cemetery's new status may help him win grants to help preserve the cemetery.
"Some
of the old mausoleums need to be patched up and some of the old
walkways," he said. "There are monuments that tip or sink. We take care
of it now out of operating funds, but it does add up."