Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
Animal lovers, listen up: if you want to be joined by your favourite furry friend in the afterlife, you should head on over to the city of Hamburg, where they have just passed a new law that allows pets and their owners to be buried together.
This week, the Hamburg city authorities waved through some revised legislation that permits the joint burials of animals and humans. Under the new law, urns containing the ashes of animals can be placed in pre-arranged graves until their owners are ready to join them. If the pet’s owner bites the dust first, members of their family can still arrange a joint burial.
The joint animal-human graves would all be placed in a special, set-aside section of the city cemetery so that anyone who doesn’t support the idea can have their own, pet-free space.
“Many people have a very close and emotional relationship with their pets,” said Ulrike Sparr, a spokesperson for the Green party. “Animals are like a part of the family, so it’s only logical to permit a common grave.”
Pet-human burials are already permitted in other German cities, such as Essen and Koblenz, and residents of Hamburg have been pushing for the same for quite some time now. As Hamburg Cemeteries spokesperson Lutz Rehkopf points out, not everyone has their own garden where they can bury their pets.
He confirmed that they are planning to set aside a 2,5-acre plot of land for pet-human graves in Ohlsdorf Cemetery to the north of the city. The first interments will probably take place a year from now, at the earliest.
He also added that the burials were intended for smaller pets like cats and dogs, rather than anything larger - but if you manage to get your pet horse cremated, there’s no reason why they can’t put its ashes in with you too.