NY pet cemetery makes way into history

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 — actor George Raft and singer 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 (30 kilometers) north of Manhattan. Its many evocative markers often draw tourists. In 2008, a travel guide listed the cemetery among the world’s 10 best places to be entombed. Arab news