People in the fair city of Diest (Flemish Brabant) will soon be able to be buried together with their pet. When you die, an urn containing the ashes of your dog or cat may be included in your grave. More and more people experience a particularly close bond with their pet. As a result requests to be buried together with a pet are becoming ever more common across Flanders. In Diest the city authorities plan to change existing cemetery regulations to allow this to happen.
Last February the Flemish government OKed plans to allow a pet’s urn to accompany a deceased person in their grave. Several towns and municipalities across Flanders have already made this possible including Mechelen, Kortenaken and Kapelle-op-den-Bos. Now Diest is also set to join this select group. Diest is insisting the animal must have died before its owner and must be cremated. Biodegradable urns are not allowed!
Owner and dog die on the same day
It was councillor Pascale Vanaudenhove, who first launched the idea in Diest. She served as alderman for animal welfare and is now an opposition councillor, but the new city cabinet was keen to take her proposal on board. ‘We want to make full use of the opportunities offered by the Flemish government,’ alderman Miet Dirix told VRT.
‘I was pleasantly surprised, but especially happy for Diest,’ councillor Pascale Vanaudenhove says. ‘I launched the idea after reading the story of Irma. This was a woman who had terminal cancer and opted for euthanasia. She had a dog called Karel. It was a dachshund and she was very attached to it. In consultation with the vet, she had Karel put down on the same day. He was 15 years old and going downhill. He would not have lived long without her.’
Still, conditions apply. ‘Human and animal remains should not come into contact with each other. An animal may never be cremated in a crematorium for humans. The burial of the ashes of animals that die after their owners will also not be allowed in existing graves.’