Pittsburgh funeral director accused of mistreating pets' bodies and ashes hit with class-action lawsuit
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the Allegheny County funeral home owner accused of throwing thousands of pets in the trash, even though their owners had paid him to cremate the animals.
Attorneys told KDKA on Friday that this lawsuit is about getting answers.
Surrounded by pictures of their cats and dogs who've passed away, Aimee Cain and Chris Brownfield are now fighting to get justice for their pets and thousands of others.
"These families were deceived. ... They care for their animals greatly, as you can see from the photographs that are here today," attorney Rob Peirce said.
The Robert Peirce and Associates and Lynch Carpenter law firms are teaming up on a class-action lawsuit for Cain and Brownfield to go after Patrick Vereb, Vereb Funeral Home and Eternal Pet Memorial.
"They wanted to memorialize their animal. They wanted to have the animal properly laid to rest, and that didn't happen. And they paid a lot of money to have proper services performed," Peirce said.
Vereb is charged with multiple counts of felony fraud. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said from 2021 to 2024, he took more than $600,000 in payments from pet owners for cremations, dumped their pets' bodies in a landfill instead, and gave owners the ashes of other animals.
"What we know to date is that there is approximately 6,500 pets who were improperly either cremated, disposed of. And even worse, multiple families in western Pennsylvania have had their hearts broken," Peirce said.
"But I'm afraid this is the tip of the iceberg, and this matter could be worse," he added.
Both firms have been contacted by dozens of people, and this lawsuit will put all those claims together.
Peirce said the firms know it'll be challenging, but they want to find out everything about what happened to these pets and why.
"And to give them hopefully some peace knowing what might have happened to their cherished pet," he said.
He said the lawsuit is also looking to get money back for the victims because they didn't get the service they paid for.
While Cain and Brownfield are grieving the loss of their best friends all over again, they don't want other pet owners to experience what they're going through.
Peirce said they want to hear from anyone who used Eternity Pet Memorial and has questions about whether or not their pet was properly laid to rest.
"We are going to attempt to make all these victims whole," he said. "These animals were members of their family, and they firmly believe their family was not treated with any type of respect. In fact, it was total disrespect for them, and it sickens them today."
Anyone who thinks they were affected during any year and is interested in being part of the lawsuit, the attorneys are asking you to email them: Robpeirce@peircelaw.com and Gary@lcllp.com.
KDKA-TV Investigative Producer Tory Wegerski contributed to this report.
