TOcats for life, but also in death. The Municipality of Milan has decided to apply the regional law which, from 2022, gives city cemeteries the possibility of organize the burial of pets such as dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and other rodents. The law provides that the pet is buried together with or after the owner, in the same artefact or family tomb. The desire to have the furry friend next to him must have been declared by the deceased or his heirs.
Bury pets in cemeteries. From 2025 in Milan you can, in the grave with their masters
Several other municipalities in Lombardy such as Brescia and Cinisello Balsamo have already applied the law for some time but its implementation is not yet particularly widespread, despite the many requests from those who have pets. The procedure can be started through a self-certification, the certificate of cremation of the animal and an application in which the animal’s ashes are asked to be buried in the same place where the owner is buried.
The burial may take place in small cells (two cinerary urns in total, one of which is for the animal), in columbaria (three boxes of remains/ashes at most) or in family tombs (in this case the burial of the animal must occupy the space of an urn for ashes). It’s on the tombstone The image of the animal alone is prohibited. However, a photo of the deceased with his four-legged friend is permitted. The epigraph referring to the animal is not permitted on the tombstone. The scattering of the animal’s ashes in cemeteries is prohibited.
At the Monumental Cemetery in Milan (Getty Images)
The burial of dogs and cats, an act of civilization
If the owner needs to change burial plots, his pet’s ashes can be moved with him, if there is space. Otherwise, the urn containing the pet’s ashes must be recovered by the owner’s heirs.
The burial of pets in city cemeteries “is an act of civilization that many have been waiting for”, said the councilor for civic services Gaia Romani, aware that “more and more people are establishing a special relationship with their pets on a par with that with a close family member.”
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