Colorado Springs – The city has abandoned the idea of going into the pet cemetery business to subsidize the operation of its two human cemeteries after a feasibility study highlighted obstacles.
The study, conducted earlier this year with the help of an Air Force Academy class, showed the city would have to offer pet memorials and cremations to be successful. It would also have to compete with businesses if it wanted to turn a profit.
Colorado Springs cemeteries director Will DeBoer unveiled the plan in late 2001, envisioning it as a revenue source for the city’s two cemeteries, which receive no tax money. He said pet burials are becoming more popular, and pet cemeteries in Denver report an influx of customers from Colorado Springs and even farther away.
But City Councilwoman Margaret Radford, who owns more than a dozen pets, said she feared the city could be viewed as insensitive if animals were buried too close to people. The plan had called for the pet cemetery to be placed on an unused section of Fairview Cemetery.
