Grieving pet owners no longer have a cemetery in Melbourne to bury their pets.
Pets Memorial Gardens in Rowville in the city’s southeast shut its gates in June after recently enforced council restrictions on its crematorium use made it no longer feasible to run.
In operation for more than 50 years, it was Melbourne’s only pet cemetery which was the final resting place for tens of thousands of animals from cats, dogs and champion racehorses to rabbits, goats, goldfish and even lizards.
This is what remains at Pets Memorial Gardens (pictured) following its closure on June 22
Public notices (pictured) were placed asking people to collect memorial plaques to their pets
It’s understood neighbours’ complaints about noise and smoke from the crematorium prompted the local council to reduce its operating hours, The Herald Sun reported.
‘It’s heartbreaking for all involved,’ owner John Alexander told the publication.
‘The gates were always open to the public to visit … people would come and lay flowers most days. It’s incredibly disappointing … I’m not sure what we’ll do next,’
Mr Alexander, who took over the business from his father, placed public notices asking people to collect memorial plaques to their pets.
This memorial plaque was in tribute ‘those unfortunate dogs who daily, we must send from this world lost, abandoned and rejected.’
1978 Caulfield Cup winner Taksan was among the thousands of animals buried there.
There was even a The Lost Dogs’ Home memorial plaque for ‘The Unnamed Stray’ in memory of ‘those unfortunate dogs who daily, we must send from this world lost, abandoned and rejected.’
Pets Memorial Gardens opened in 1966 following the death of the family’s beloved Shetland pony Smokey.
‘Smokey was very much a part of our family and when he suddenly died, we wanted him to have a special resting place,’ the website states.
‘Back in 1966 there was nowhere to bury or cremate a pet so we decided to start a pet cemetery. The cemetery was established because we wanted to help others dealing with this same loss by providing a way to immortalise their pet’s memory. We love being able to provide a service which allows people to grieve for the passing of a beloved member of the family as we did when Smokey left us.’
Pets Memorial Gardens (pictured) was the only pet cemetery in Melbourne
Pets Memorial Gardens was in operation for 52 years before new council-enforced restrictions made it no longer feasible to run