Yesterday I read about the man who killed his daughter and the family beagle, and wounded his wife and son before killing himself.
In situations like that, can the deceased pet be buried in the casket with the deceased daughter, if the family requests it? I feel like it would be a comfort to the family, to know that their daughter won’t be alone. If my sweet little kitty were to die alongside me, whether by murder or by natural disaster, I would want her to be buried in my arms.
Obviously there would be some limitations (i.e. you wouldn’t be able to bury a massive great Dane or St. Bernard in a casket with a person), but surely it would be permitted to bury a small to medium sized animal with its owner, right?
When I lived in Philadelphia, my veterinarian told me about a situation where he euthanized two old but healthy dogs so they could be cremated and their ashes buried with their owner. It was a stipulation in the deceased’s will and the executrix disliked it, but felt she had no choice and the clock was ticking.
My aunt and my uncle’s cat hated each other. When my uncle passed away, the funeral featured a moment where his loved ones each put something of his in the casket to be buried with him. My aunt joked about wanting to put Lulu in there, but she’d keep jumping back out.
As to the remains of pets being interred in the same grave or casket/urn as their owners: Most cemeteries have policies against this, however I can personally attest to a number of families who requested that this happen. My rule of thumb is what the cemetery doesn’t know won’t hurt them. I have cremated pets urns along with decedents at the request of families. I am also guilty of instructing families to not disclose that they were placing the urn of a pet into a burial vault or had placed this in the casket for burial as the cemetery may require it be removed in order to proceed.
When my sister-in-law’s father died, she placed the urn of ashes of his pet in the casket with him. I’m not sure if she got someone’s permission for this or somehow sneaked it past whoever is tasked with watching out for that sort of thing. But, anyway, anecdata.