Horror over prospect of animals dug up from Barnes Hill RSPCA pet cemetery

Aug 6 2009 by Jane Tyler, Birmingham Mail

DISTRAUGHT pet owners have spoken of their horror at having their beloved animals dug up from a pet cemetery to make way for a supermarket.

The RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre is selling its current base at Barnes Hill to move to larger premises in Frankley and is in negotiations with several retail chains over buying the land.

The site has a pet cemetery where around 90 cats and dogs and small animals are buried, but which will be concreted over in any new development.

It is now contacting all the owners to tell them their animals will be exhumed and returned to them for cremation or burial elsewhere.

But owners are furious and have inundated the Birmingham Mail office with complaints.

Velma Collins, from Hollywood, has two cats in the cemetery, Sam and Polly, and a dog.

She spent nearly £1,000 on Sam’s funeral who was buried in a solid oak coffin lined with silk and his name embossed on the top and a marble headstone, while Polly was cremated and her ashes put in an urn placed in Sam’s plot.

“I thought they would be buried there forever and I chose that because it was better than the garden because what happens if you move house?” she said. “Now we’re going to have to dig up them up, cremate them and scatter their ashes somewhere else.”

Brian Waldron, from Hawkesley, has his boxer Bruno buried there at a cost of £400 for the burial and £200 for the headstone.

“They’ve said we can scatter the ashes at a new garden of remembrance at Frankley, but that’s no good because there’s no bus service,” he said.

Doreen Kelly and Keith Hadland, from Shenley, have three dogs in the cemetery.