Sharon Acedo’s heart breaks and every time she opens her freezer door. The 71-year-old has been keeping eight of her deceased cats in a garage freezer since 2011, hoping that someday they will have a proper burial.
Acedo is just one of many who have come forward about issues at the Visalia Pet Cemetery. One issue some are angered over involves a previous cemetery manager who took advance payments to bury animals that weren’t dead yet. Those receipts were not honored and that manager is no longer working on the property, according to residents. Another issue is the worry over not being able to visit their animals’ burial sites now that new owners have taken over.
Acedo’s said she paid to have these eight cats buried in 2010 — for animals that were still alive. Acedo, a longtime Visalia resident, said she had always trusted the man who workef on the property, who convinced her that if she paid up front, the price of would be reduced from $100 a pet to $50. Acedo handed over $400 cash.
(Photo: Juan Villa)
In 2011, Acedo put four of her cats to sleep when they became very ill. When she went to the pet cemetery to bury them, a new manager told her the receipts simply weren’t valid. Acedo said she was also told by this person that the previous manager burned all records of plots that were already paid for, so there wasn’t any proof she paid.
“I knew in my heart, I should have gone to Fresno,” she said, “but [Visalia Pet Cemetery] was close to home.”
Acedo said she believes someone needs to be held responsible for the money that was taken from residents, or have the pet cemetery restored.
“I think that somebody should be responsible for that $400 that I already paid,” she said.
Acedo said she plans to take her deceased pets to the Fresno Pet Cemetery very soon, though she doesn’t want to. Acedo estimates she has spent at least $1,000 for the pets that are buried there now, and would like those eight cats to be with her other pets.
“I always raised my animals with love like they’re a part of the family,” she said. “I’ve always done the best I could for them.”
Acedo said she hopes others will also join in a class-action lawsuit against the previous owners.
Eric Coyne, economic development coordinator for Tulare County, said a special use permit was approved for the owner of the property back in 1985. However, a special use permit, and other types of permits actually expire after two years of not operating as it’s stated in the permit.
The county determined in 2012 no recent burials took place and, therefore, the special use permit consequently, expired. There is also no record of it being renewed at all, he said.
“We’ve determined that the special use permit issued for this pet cemetery is null and void,” he said.
Coyne said the permit is also silent about any obligation to care for the pets once operations have seized.
“If we were to write the special use permit today for property of the pet cemetery we would want a clause in there to add these very conditions,” he said.
Coyne said the county has practiced the “what’s next” clause for the past 10 years, something which should have been practiced before the special use permit was drawn up.
“I’m sympathetic with these people because if they don’t have a contract or a written agreement that states what they paid for, it becomes very hard to enforce that contract,” he said.
Supervisor Phil Cox said unless the owners are in some kind of violation or a crime is being committed, it’s out of the county’s hands. He suggested a police report be filed if they felt defrauded.
“This gets so complicated,” he said. “How much trouble do they want to cause the people that own the property now, or do they just want to visit their pet? If they just want to visit their pet, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to keep them from visiting their pets. They don’t have to let you bury another animal because it sounds like they didn’t take the money.”
According to public records, the Visalia Pet Cemetery was purchased by Mary Ann and Pedro Vargas from Sossi Tabibian back in April of 2015.
