COLMA, Calif. — Nila Negri mourned her two dogs and one cat years ago, when they were buried at the lone pet cemetery among 17 human graveyards in this town known as "The City of Souls."
But there she was this week, sitting on a gravestone, head in hands.
Some of the 13,000 animals buried at the Pet's Rest cemetery have to be dug up and moved because they were buried on leased property. Now the landowner, a local real estate firm, wants its land back.
For Negri and the others, the prospect of seeing their pets exhumed has stirred up grief they thought had been put to rest.
"I don't want anybody touching my pets," said Negri, who has lived in San Francisco since 1949.
Pet's Rest owner Phillip C'de Baca sent letters in May to the owners of 1,000 pets buried at the eastern end of the cemetery, giving them two options: relocation or cremation, both free of charge. The owners were given 15 days to decide.
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That brought frantic pet owners flocking to the cemetery.
"At no time was I told he was being buried on leased land," said Cathryn Hrudicka, 53, of Berkeley.
Time to decide
Time was running out for Hrudicka to decide whether she wanted her dog Poquito's remains cremated, returned to her, or moved to a part of the cemetery that is owned by Pet's Rest.
C'de Baca thought he'd be given the option to buy the leased land, once the lease was up, he said.
But Cypress Abbey, the Colma real estate firm that owns the land, plans to use it as a human cemetery, said David J. Friedenberg, an attorney for Cypress Abbey.
"They've been waiting to get their property back," he said.
According to the lease agreement, Pet's Rest was required to issue to everyone with animals buried on the leased land a notice that said "all rights of interment" would expire on May 19, 2006. Many with animals buried there said they were never notified.
Angry pet owners rallied at the cemetery last week and are exploring legal options to stop the exhumations, Hrudicka said.
The state of California has no regulations governing pet cemeteries, said Kevin Flanagan, a spokesman for the state's cemetery and funeral bureau.
Grief counselors who deal with pet loss say mourning a pet is as natural as mourning a person.
"It's like losing another child," said Dr. Carol A. Brothers, founder of Support Services for Animal Care Professionals and a clinical psychologist who specializes in grief and trauma.
Embarrassed, ashamed
Pet owners often feel embarrassed or ashamed for grieving over the loss of their animals as strongly as they have for a human friend or relative, Brother said.
Negri's husband and parents are also buried in Colma, a magnet for cemeteries since a 1900 San Francisco law prohibited burying human remains within city limits.
Negri didn't get a letter from C'de Baca. She came to make sure her pets weren't among those being disinterred.
She walked into the cemetery office to learn her animals' fate. As she came out, she smiled. Her pets could continue to rest in peace, she said.
"They told me," she said, "I am in a safe location."
