WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Another
cemetery has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, but
this one's a little different. It has dogs and cats and iguanas and a lion cub.
The 116-year-old Hartsdale Pet
Cemetery in the New York City suburbs is the first animal burial ground to
win the honor.
The designation "is a fitting way to
recognize the longstanding and significant role pets have played in our
national history and culture," said Carol Shull, interim Keeper of
the National Register.
Kevin Moriarty, a historian for the
register, said Friday that Hartsdale is the only pet cemetery among the
2,698 cemeteries on the register. He said Hartsdale is notable because it marks
a sharp change in how humans related to animals.
"It was in the early 20th century
that pets began to be considered family members rather than livestock," he
said. "Before then, a dead animal was likely to go out with the
garbage."
The cemetery became popular with artists
and celebrities — George Raft and Mariah Carey have buried pets
there.
About 75,000 animals and 700 pet owners
are buried at the cemetery, which is on a woodsy slope in Hartsdale about 20
miles north of Manhattan.
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