LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A bill making its way through the Pennsylvania General Assembly aims to hold pet crematories accountable. It unanimously passed the House and is making its way through Senate committees.
House Bill 1750 would give the Attorney General and District Attorney's office in that state the authority to fine or even strip bad actors in the pet cremation industry of their ability to do business in the state.
Donna Shugart-Bethune pointed Channel 13 to the bill, which she said is significant. She's the Executive Director of the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories.
If the bill becomes law, she said it'll send a strong message that there are standards and requirements to operate in good faith in the pet aftercare industry. Adding, "there's going to be penalties enforced if they're not met."
Channel 13 met Shugart-Bethune after our reporting on a debacle involving a third-party company, Coral Cremations, and a well-established cremation company in Henderson.
"If you have nothing to hide, you’re going to let people know because that helps them with their grief to feel like they know how their pet is being taken care of," she said.
Compassionate Pet Cremation, LLC. reached out to Channel 13 after seeing Anna Ketcham's online review about what she got back as remains of her late mother's dog, Scruffy.
It turned out that Coral Cremations did not disclose to Ketchem and other customers that they weren't doing the cremating, but rather, they were using Compassionate Pet Cremation LLC.
"They're still here," said the owner, Allen Silberstein. He said Coral never picked up Scruffy's and 19 other animal's remains after dropping them off.
Channel 13 was able to help reunite Anna with Scruffy's real remains.
There are still several other bags of remains at Compassionate Pet Cremation.
