15 December, 2024
On most days, Mark Lindenberg either drives or walks over to visit with Boots, his beloved cat who died in 2020 at 17 years old. The New York man had the animal buried at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, a burial place on small grassy hills near the main road.
The words on Boots' tombstone read, “You taught me how to love and be loved.”
Other tombstones include phrases such as “A truer friend we never had” and “Our beloved queen.”
“Human cemeteries are sad,” Lindenberg said. “This is one of the most cheerful places.”
He added, “I can't think of a better place.”
Hartsdale is America's oldest pet cemetery in operation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Lindenberg says he paid about $7,000 to bury Boots at Hartsdale. Those costs cover the individual site, burial, burial container, tombstone, and grounds care.
“What have I worked for if I'm not going to do the things that matter most, and this mattered most,” Lindenberg said. “I got instant closure the day I decided I was going to bury her here.”
Pet burials started in Hartsdale in 1896 when animal doctor Samuel Johnson let a woman bury her dog on his property of apple trees. The place is about 30 kilometers north of New York City.
Since that time, about 70,000 animals have been laid to rest in the two-hectare cemetery. Most of the pets buried at Hartsdale are cats and dogs, but several other kinds of animals are also there.
“There's reptiles that are buried here. Mice,” said Edward Martin III, vice president of the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. “There's a lion cub that was buried here in 1912 by a Russian princess. There's the ashes of Ming, who's a Bengal tiger that was buried here a few years ago. There are some monkeys.”
There is also Hudson the horse, some birds and singer Mariah Carey's cat, Clarence. The oldest headstone, dating to 1898, remembers the life of a dog named Blague.
Martin operates the place with his father Edward Martin Jr., who purchased the cemetery in 1974. The younger Martin is a lawyer and accountant who decided later in his career to help run the cemetery. He had worked there also as a teenager.
“I've seen what people go through, and they lose their pets, and I feel like I'm in a good position where I can help them,” he said. “And I have helped them, and it makes me want to continue helping them.”
Between 250 and 300 burials take place at Hartsdale each year. The cemetery never runs out of space because not all of the burial sites are permanent. People can make a one-time forever maintenance payment of $3,500 or a yearly payment of $105. If the yearly payments stop, that gravesite is offered for sale.
“The pet in the grave will be removed from that plot so someone else who wants it can pay the maintenance. And the pets are taken out, and they're cremated, and they don't leave the cemetery,” said Martin Jr., Hartsdale's president. “Their remains are scattered over the cemetery grass.”
A centerpiece at the cemetery is the war dog memorial at the top of a hill. Established in 1923, the memorial honored World War I service dogs. But these days, the memorial honors service dogs of all kinds.
Although Hartsdale is mostly a resting place for animals, the cremated remains of about 800 humans are buried here with their pets. There is a Martin family plot, where the elder Martin plans to be laid to rest when he dies.
“I have to be buried somewhere. And why would I go to any place other than this?” he said. “My mother and father, and my mother-in-law or father-in-law are buried here, and so, that's a good reason by itself to do it.”
Lindenberg also likes the idea. He has already prepared to be cremated and buried alongside Boots when the time comes.
“I'm single. I don't know if I'll ever get married, and I can't think of a better place,” he said. “I lived with my cat every day for almost 17 years. Why stop now?”
In the meantime, Lindenberg, who lives a 10-minute walk away, will continue to visit his old friend almost daily.
I'm Caty Weaver.
Dora Mekouar reported this story for VOA News. Caty Weaver adapted the story for Learning English.
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Words in this Story
tombstone – n. a marker attached to an individual burial place
cheerful – adj. pleasantly bright
instant – n. produced or happening with, or as if with, extreme quickness and ease
cub – n. a kind of baby animal
princess – n. a daughter or granddaughter of a king or queen: a female member of a royal family
cremate – v. to burn (as a dead body) to ashes