Pet Cemetery Exhumes Deadbeat Dog

Hartsdale Pet Cemetery was perfectly justified in digging up a dead dog whose owner hadn't paid the upkeep fees on his grave, a New York judge ruled today. Man-Hung Lee had spared no expense for her beloved dog, paying $190 for the plot, $500 for his coffin, and $800 for his heart-shaped headstone, the New York Daily News reports. But she'd thought she only needed to pay one $31 upkeep fee on the plot—it was actually $31 a year.

“We are very upset with the decision,” says Lee's husband. “We just can't believe it. It's a shock to us.” But Hartsdale, the oldest pet cemetery in the country, was “delighted” by the ruling, its president said. “A pet cemetery is like a co-op apartment,” he explained. “Only here, someone has to cut the grass and rake the leaves.” (More pet cemetery stories.)