Pet-lover outrage halts pet exhumations in Montana

[May 10, 2011]  HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Officials responsible for a Montana pet cemetery are backing off a proposal to exhume and cremate its occupants after some of the pet owners threatened to chain themselves to the front gates.

The 1.3-acre Arley Burt Pet Cemetery in Helena is the final resting place for some 1,200 dogs, cats, rabbits and hamsters buried between 1972 and 1993.

Gina Wiest of the Lewis and Clark Humane Society says the organization considered exhuming the pets in the cemetery adjacent to its shelter because of a new hotel going up nearby.

But the hotel owner tells the Independent Record that she's OK with the land's current use. And the Helena city attorney says the Humane Society leases the land from the city, and the town has no plans to disturb the grounds.

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Information from: Independent Record, http://www.helenair.com/

[Associated Press]

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