09-05-2025
Thousands of pet owners receive wrong ashes from Pittsburgh-area funeral home: AG
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — Thousands of owners who had their pets cremated in the Pittsburgh area, including a woman who works in West Virginia, were recently told that the ashes they received don't belong to their pets.
'Total shock, disbelief, deceived, was kind of the worst thing you could ever hear,' said Bobbi Loveridge, assistant professor of Vet Tech at Pierpont Community and Technical College in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
Nearly two weeks ago, Loveridge was stunned to learn that the ashes she received may not be from her three beloved pets. Owners of the ashes received them between 2021 and 2024.
Last week, the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, David Sunday, filed criminal charges against 70-year-old Patrick Vereb, the owner of Eternity Pet Memorials. Charges against him include deceptive business practices, theft by deception and receiving stolen property, with allegations of deceiving more than 6,500 pet owners out of more than $650,000.
According to the AG's office, in many cases, instead of providing the pet's ashes, the pet's remains were discarded in landfills, and customers were given ashes from unknown animals.
'Like we give you our pets and you send a letter—the letter was the worst. With each ashes that you get back, you get a letter, and it says something to the effect of 'Thank you for entrusting us with your beloved pet,' and it's signed the Verebs. And when I was initially asked who had cremated my animals, I remember the Vereb name because of that letter,' Loveridge said.
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Loveridge was able to confirm with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office that her cat Lilac and dog Lewi were not cremated, but her Rottweiler mix Neyely was cremated. It's still unknown what portion of Neyely's ashes went to Loveridge and what may have gone to others.
Loveridge frequently brought Neyely to class, and she was loved by students. Due to health conditions, she also had implants that Loveridge said were very unique to her.
'When I had her cremated, I did ask to have her implants returned in hopes I could use them as a teaching aid for my students to be able to see. I had every intent of having them put into resin, and normally, I move pretty quickly and, like, do things so that the students can benefit. However, I haven't done that, and I feel like there was a reason maybe that I hadn't because maybe that's the only ashes that I do have of hers,' Loveridge said.
Loveridge still has a memorial light-up orb made from what was supposed to be Neyely's ashes. 'I chose to turn it on because I thought maybe it was somebody's baby, and I wanted to honor them,' she added.
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Loveridge said in the future, if she chooses cremation services, she will opt for ones she can observe, even if it's difficult. For now, her trust in crematoriums has been broken.
'All of my animals have been processed through that funeral home. I did work at Loyalhanna Animal Clinic in the past, and that's how I got hooked up with Eternity Pets because that's who we had used. As far as we knew, he was a trustworthy person, and that's why we chose him. However, in the event that we found out he is not,' Loveridge said.
According to an email sent to Loveridge from Loyalhanna, Loveridge purchased the private cremation service for all three of her pets in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The total cost of the three services was $290.
When asked what she would do if there was a return of funds after the court cases, Loveridge originally said, 'No money's going to change it, it's dirty money, probably going to donate it if there is anything.'
Then, after pondering the question further, Loveridge later told Nexstar's WBOY, 'Should I receive a settlement, I would like to memorialize my pets by creating a scholarship for vet tech students.'
Vereb waived his right to a preliminary hearing. All of the charges will now proceed to the court of common pleas, but no date has been announced as of this publication.
Loveridge is now part of a class action lawsuit against Vereb, seeking to know exactly what happened to all the pets during that time.
According to the attorney general's press release in the case, 'the victims in this criminal case were walk-in and direct-pay clients of Eternity Pet Memorials, as well as pet owners from 20 veterinarians/businesses.'
To learn more about the case and to go to the dedicated page for it, you can go here.
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