'Macabre way' Pennsylvania funeral home 'handled pets after pocketing $650k' from their heartbroken owners
A Pennsylvania funeral director allegedly betrayed thousands of grieving pet owners by claiming their beloved animals were being cremated when in reality, they were being dumped in a landfill.
Patrick Vereb, the 70-year-old owner of Eternity Pet Memorial in Pittsburgh, is accused of pocketing more than $650,000 over three years by charging more than 6,500 pet owners for burial and cremation services.
However, the funeral director actually returned ashes from other unknown animals instead, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
On Monday, Vereb was charged with the improper disposal of thousands of dogs and cats, whose remains were entrusted to the pet cemetery for end-of-life services.
'This case is disturbing, and will cause devastation and heartache for many Pennsylvanians,' Attorney General David Sunday said during a press conference.
'Our pets are members of our families, and this defendant betrayed and agonized pet owners who entrusted him to provide dignified services for their beloved cats and dogs,' he added.
'I commend our investigative team for a comprehensive review of voluminous records which uncovered this long-running pattern of theft and deception.'
Eternity Pet Memorial offered two types of services - common burials, when pets are buried together in the cemetery, and private cremation, when a pet is individually cremated before their ashes are swiftly returned to the owner.
In the charges filed, the business was said to offer 'cremation services that lay your pet to rest in a way that is dignified and celebrates their life', The Times reported.
The cemetery's website reiterated this promise, stating that their cremation service 'allows the ashes to be returned to you'.
However, in July and August of last year, staff at the pet funeral home became suspicious when they realized Vereb was allegedly taking in more animals than he was sending off for cremation.
'But he was still charging for the cremation process and providing ashes to the vets and to the individual pet owners for animals that were not actually cremated,' April-Noelle Campbell and Austin Kaminski, agents that worked for Vereb, said, according to The Times.
An extensive investigation launched by the Attorney General's Office ultimately uncovered at least 6,500 pets, scheduled for cremation between 2021 and 2024, were never actually cremated.
'Instead of proper cremations, burials and returns of ashes to customers, he took thousands of animals to a landfill for disposal,' Sunday said.
'Thousands of customers who paid for their pet's ashes received ashes from other, unknown animals.'
During the investigation, Vereb allegedly told investigators that because the crematorium often 'took too long' to return ashes, he would give owners leftover ashes from another animal to 'make them feel good for the day, if nothing else'.
Staff said they frequently observed large dogs scheduled for burial being sent to the crematorium, with investigators suggesting that their ashes were subsequently redistributed to pet owners and falsely labeled as those of their own deceased animals.
'In essence, if an animal was at the crematorium for over a week, Vereb would use the ashes he had on hand to cover for that owner's pet,' the two agents explained.
'Then, when that animal's actual ashes were returned to Vereb, he would use them for another pet.'
Common burials, the standard burial service at Eternity Pet Memorial, involved burying remains alongside those of other animals.
Yet during the investigation, Vereb allegedly told law enforcement that he had not used pet cemeteries 'in a while' and 'he instead dumped the animals in a landfill'.
Agents Kaminski and Campbell eventually cross-referenced the list of pets scheduled for common burial with records from the landfill, uncovering a startling discrepancy.
Investigators unearthed landfill receipts showing that the company had dumped more than 170,000 pounds of 'animal carcasses', despite the funeral home only documenting the burial of 490 pets, totaling 27,000 pounds, between 2021 and 2024.
'These records indicate an incredibly large number of animals were being dumped rather than being cremated as promised,' the agents said.
Vereb was ultimately charged with felony counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices.
However, people are still grappling with the painful realization that the ashes they believed to be their beloved pets' were never truly theirs at all.
'As a pet owner myself I can't imagine the heartbreak in learning that you were affected by a crime like this,' Sunday expressed.
Hundreds of alleged victims have turned to social media to express their devastation over the realization, as many begin to piece together the truth of what happened to their late pets.
Some have even resorted to weighing the ashes they received, trying to make sense of the heartbreaking betrayal.
In one post, a woman shared a photo alongside her late dog, revealing that two of her deceased pets' remains were mishandled as part of the disturbing scheme.
'Please have some grace today as I navigate this form myself, and look for answers regarding what happened to my beloved dogs,' she wrote.
'My heart is shattered, and hurts for not only my own family and dogs, but the estimated 6,500 other families who were also impacted by this heinous act.'
Emily Naugle, another alleged victim, shared photos of her dog Sadie to Facebook, saying 'words can't even describe' what Vereb has caused thousands of families.
'To take advantage of grieving pet owners and have no respect to animals that he claims took 'gentle care of' by dumping them in landfills and then sending the pets ashes to the owners is cruel beyond words,' Naugle wrote to Facebook
'To take advantage of grieving pet owners and have no respect to animals that he claims took 'gentle care of' by dumping them in landfills and then sending the pets ashes to the owners is cruel beyond words,' she wrote.
'We do not know yet if this affected our Sadie, we may never know. My heart goes out to everyone who is dealing with this news.'
The Attorney General's Office launched a dedicated website to connect victims with their office, as they work together to uncover the truth of what happened to their pets.
'Since the launch of the website, we've had over 3,800 form submissions on the website,' Sunday said, CBS News reported. 'And so that's a lot. We have not seen anything like this before in the AG's office.'
Vereb has since been released on his own recognizance but is scheduled to appear in court on May 9 for a preliminary hearing.
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