Digging a grave and burying your sadly deceased dog in a public park

[TheHorseOnSeventhAvenue]

Am I being unreasonable to think there are probably laws against this and burying your much loved pet in a park is not a great idea?

I have 3 much loved cats buried in my garden over the years. My DH dug down the border against the wall for about 1 1/2 metres as far as he could because then most stones/rocks. Put them in a cardboard box. We buried then filled in the grave and placed a paving slab on top of the grave to stop dogs digging it up. Put a little plaque on the wall. Scattered some forget-me-not seeds around the paving slab. After about 4 months we moved the slab and slowly the forget-me -nots spread over the grave. You can't bury pets in a public space.

You need to go down at least three feet. I bet they didn’t.

I have a number of pet rabbits buried in our garden. Some have been buried deeply, some very shallowly when the ground has been virtually frozen solid. None have been disturbed, I think because they had all been dead at least 48 hours before being buried. Foxes are not interested in decaying animals.

I also am not surprised lots here condemning this. Too many MN have no real understanding of what it is like to have no money. For this man he may have had no other choice. You can not put dead dogs in dustbins. If you have no garden and no car to drive somewhere remote, what are you supposed to do? Would you rather he just left a dead dog on the street?

Councils will take them away for free.

It is awful if you don't have the money to bury or cremate your pet as you wish, but burying it in a public park is not the answer.

There are pet graveyards available. We have buried our beloved cats in our garden but when our remaining cat dies (😭), I'm tempted to use the graveyard so I can go and visit even if we move house. Or I'll have her ashes made into jewellery.

If it's a remote spot (not a park) and it's done deeply enough, I don't have an issue with it personally, although I am aware it's illegal and wouldn't do it myself.

@Cazpar I have just googled and our council do not. They will collect dead wild animals for footpaths and roads, but not pets. The exception is pets killed by cars where no one knows the owner. They will collect them.

Near me in a walking area on a hill there is a memorial to a child. It has a home made marker, flowers and mementoes. That will also be illegal but I would never dream of reporting it.

Exactly. This is a horror show waiting to happen.

To me if anything this is another reason why they need to consider if people who don’t have gardens should be allowed to have dogs.

It’s not great for the dogs , nor for the residents of the flats they live ( multiple dog owners in my former flats I stayed in used to let their dogs shit and urinate in the one shared garden they had for this entire apartment complex that had a lot of people ) and now they’re digging up public parks for the dead dogs body? Enough is enough.

I read of an elderly dog found dead in a woods and it had a collar and lead on so people were very concerned but it turned out to be an elderly persons dog and when the dog died of old age they carried the dog to the woods which had been its favourite place and the owner perhaps in their grief had thought it would be ok for wild animals to devour the body.

But the dog had been found not long after the owner had left it. It was very sad.

That is different though. Was the child illegally buried there?

That is a really bizarre reason to not allow people without gardens to have dogs.
I have a garden, and would never bury her there anyway.

Not having money does mean you can break the law though.

And if someone did not have the money to have their dog cremated, then did they have the money for vet treatment and to allow the dog to pass peacefully too? Or did they suffer and die at home?

@XenoBitch I assume not

My cat passed away the week before last. I paid for the vet to visit our home to put her to sleep, he took her away with him and a pet funeral/cremation service has cremated her. They are coming today to return her ashes, any time now. I live in an apartment so we’ll scatter her ashes, in the place I want to be scattered when the time comes.

It cost a small fortune, but that’s the price of owning a pet.

Gosh dog owners really are turning out to be the worst kinds of people aren't they, what next 😳

Yes. It’s illegal without permission.

She says it on every dog post to get a reaction.

What legislation makes it illegal exactly. I can not find any, but would welcome a definitive answer.

If it is a ground water protection legislation then permission is a regulatory permission, which I can not find any laws on.

"You do not need permission to bury domestic pets.
You can bury small domestic pet animals such as a dog or a cat on your own land, for example in your back garden. There are no minimum good practice groundwater protection requirements."

Animal burials: prevent groundwater pollution - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

It would be a minor crime to bury a dog in a park and would probably only lead to a fine if prosecuted.

I have two beloved cats buried (very deep) on Wimbledon Common. I wanted them buried where I could visit - I was unaware of pet cemeteries (outside of the horror genre) at the time, it was 20 and 17 years ago. Know better now.

Well it’s not the only reason. Clearly I did cite other reasons first, but my point was if this is going to become to a thing - and I do hope it’s not - it’s one more reason.

I’m aware not everyone would bury their dead dog in the garden. My comment was in the context of pp justifying the man’s actions on the basis that he likely didn’t have a garden.

That's really sad

Very quick google suggests it is illegal. Burying your dead pet

Not a wise idea, have seen this before, when body was discovered it was investigated as abuse ie someone covering up a dead dog, horrendous SM comments.