Dog Owners Disrespecting the Dead?

Tools

by Morgan Fogarty
Bio | Email | Follow: @MorganFogarty

Story Created: May 30, 2012 at 9:05 PM EDT

Story Updated: May 31, 2012 at 2:17 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Carolina Funeral and Cremation owner Steve Kuzma was overseeing a funeral at Elmwood Cemetery last week when he saw a guy walking his dog.  "And the dog literally was urinating on a headstone," says Kuzma.

Then, he saw a second pet.  "Here was another dog off leash just doing his business on top of somebody else's grave," says Kuzma.

Dogs are permitted in the cemetery as long as they are on a leash and their owners clean up after them.  When we were there, we only saw bagged animal waste in the trash cans, not the grass.  But we did see one little dog running around off leash.  His owner declined to speak with us.
 
Uptown resident and runner Will Stafford says the pet owners he sees always clean up after their animals.  "From a community standpoint, neighborhood standpoint, everybody seems to know that's what they're supposed to do and they pretty much do it," he says.

"We just don't get that many complaints," says City of Charlotte cemeteries supervisor Mike Shroyer.  He says about a month ago, he did ask Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control to step up its patrols.  "You know as well as I do they can't be there all the time," he says.

So it's up to visitors like Kuzma to give voice to the silent.  He says, "People gotta have respect for other people and it doesn't seem to be happening."

Animal control officers have been out to the cemetery about six times in the past month.  They cited one dog owner for a leash law violation.

blog comments powered by Disqus

What's On TonightFull Schedule

8:00
hells kitchen
9:00
does someone have to go