THE owner of a local pet cemetery has reassured the community it has no immediate plans to clear the site, despite an invitation for people to come collect their late pet’s plaque or headstone.

Close to 200 pets were buried at the Roseworthy (Atkinson’s) Pet Cemetery, on Krieg Road, over a 40-year period from the early 1970s.

Long-time Roseworthy resident Dianne Harvey said she was upset to read a recent notice in The Bunyip newspaper from current cemetery owner – Hickinbotham Group company Land Australia – encouraging owners of plaques within the cemetery to “please remove them”.

“I just thought how sad,” she said.

“Those pets would have been part of people’s families.”

The cemetery site was established by the former property owner the late Bob Atkinson, then passed down in the family until about 10 years ago when it was sold to land developer Hickinbotham Group.

At the time the area was flagged for potential residential development and the first appeal was made for the collection of pet tombstones and remains.

However the site has largely remained untouched since, with Land Australia on Monday, explaining the subject land was ultimately excluded from rezoning under the Roseworthy Township Expansion Project.

A spokesperson for Land Australia said its most recent call-out to owners was in response to community enquiries and not part of any land clearance push on that site.

“Land Australia was itself contacted by the community to inquire about whether they could access headstones etc at the cemetery – which Land Australia seeks to maintain in good shape,” the spokesperson said.

“We have no objection to this community desire as we recognise that in time, some owners may want to bring such reminders of their beloved animals, closer to home - into their own backyards for example or other locations of importance and memories of time spent with their late pets.

“We are more than happy to accommodate people with pets laid to rest at Atkinsons, to go on site and retrieve/relocate their markers if that is important to them – but it is not compulsory and there is no deadline to enact such actions or any requirement to do so.”

Lorraine Paulauskas, now of Salisbury North, buried her beloved miniature dachshund Kojak in the Roseworthy cemetery back in the late 90s, but has since chosen to rehome his plaque in her backyard because of uncertainty around the site’s future.

“I’ve got three children and this little dog was human to us and was like my fourth child,” she said.

“He was in a little white coffin and we had a blanket in there, his collar, a couple of his favourite toys and a letter from my daughter to him.

“And as I was walking around the cemetery reading the other headstones, I was really happy, because I thought he was in a place with some very much loved animals.

“And I thought we’ve done the right thing for us by using that option.”

Mrs Paulauskas said if the site was ever eventually cleared it would be nice to have a collective memorial that acknowledged the pets buried there.

Land Australia has said if any owners want to make further inquiries, they can contact David Luu on 8366 000 or at (davidl@hickinbotham.com.au).