Legislation to regulate Pennsylvania's pet cremation industry stalls

An attempt to regulate Pennsylvania's pet cremation industry just hit a wall.

Former funeral home director Patrick Vereb still awaits trial on criminal charges, but lawmakers wanted to protect pets moving forward. Now advocates say it's not happening.

The advocates say it's a terrible combination of running out of time and inaction. They say the one elected leader who can advance legislation to the state Senate floor won't do it.

Grieving pet parent Raeanna Paterson wants to see the pet cremation industry regulated because of what happened to her dog, Tinx.

"This bill, in a lot of ways, is the only justice we can have in this situation, which is why it's so important for us," she said.

As Vereb's trial keeps getting delayed, Paterson, along with thousands of impacted pet parents, supported the proposed Companion Animal Cremation Consumer Protection Act to protect against what Vereb's accused of doing — either failing to cremate the animals, or cremating a large animal and handing out those unmarked remains to multiple people.

"I think many of us don't see any reason why you can't pass pet cremation right now," Paterson said. 

Animal advocate Natalie Ahwesh says it's blocked, and with just a handful of sessions left in the state Senate this year, lawmakers will need to start over next year.

"Well, the bill is sitting in committee right now in the Senate, and it is up to Sen. Stefano if he wants to run the bill or not, so at this point, the decision is in his hands," Ahwesh said. 

KDKA Investigates asked Sen. Patrick Stefano, a Republican from Fayette County, for comment. He declined an interview, instead sending a statement that said he thinks this issue extends beyond pets.

"Pennsylvania has very limited regulations regarding the cremation of human remains," the statement said. "Human and pet remains alike deserve to be treated responsibly with dignity and respect, and I believe this points to the need for a more comprehensive solution that reflects those values." 

KDKA sent a follow-up email asking if he already drafted or planned to draft legislation about human remains and did not get an answer.

Pennsylvania regulates human cremation extensively through statutes like the funeral director law and the cremation law, including requiring things like authorization forms, waiting periods, identification procedures, even container standards and licensing of crematories and funeral directors. 

"We are fine if legislators want to address human cremation, like we don't have a problem with that, but we do have a problem with it holding up this bill," Ahwesh said. "So, addressing human cremation should not come at the expense of addressing pet cremation when there is a real threat. I mean, people have been affected by this, so the time is now."  

For pet parent Don Hughes, it's another frustrating blow for impacted families like his.

"Government's supposed to work for the people, and something that has bipartisan support, you would think would be able to be passed very easily without any add-ons or anything like that, or attaching other things to the bill," Hughes said. "It's not a controversial thing to put into place, and so who knows?"  

Even though Pennsylvania has a full-time legislature, there are only six session days between now and the end of the year.

As for what will change next year, advocates say it all depends on who gets reelected and which party is in control.