Tom Abinanti Proposes Assembly Bill To Provide Clear Protections for Burials Alongside Pets, While Cemetery Board Continues Efforts to Unlawfully Interfere!
Even though the New York Cemetery Board announced at their monthly meeting on December 15, 2011, that human burials of cremains at pet cemeteries may continue, they are still trying to impose unlawful restrictions on pet cemeteries to "bury" from public knowledge the fact that this option exists and to punish pet cemeteries that continue to provide this lawful accomodation.
Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti has proposed new legislation, Bill No. A08651, to clarify, once and for all, that New Yorkers have the right to contract with private pet cemeteries for the disposal of their cremains alongside their pets without interference from any government agency!
If you care about protecting your rights, give Assembly member Abinanti your support and contact your own Assembly Member and State Senator to urge their support for this proposed bill!
The NY Department of State is proposing new regulations sought by the Cemetery Board that would require pet cemeteries to meet certain conditions before they could permit burial of a pet owner's ashes alongside their pets. These conditions include prohibiting pet cemeteries from advertising, promoting or even informing pet owners that this option is available, prohibiting pet cemeteries from charging a fee for the labor to provide for burial, and requiring pet cemeteries to give pet owners seeking to be buried written notification that pet cemeteries do not afford the consumer protections that govern traditional human cemeteries.
Eventually, this proposed regulation should be posted in the New York State Register for 90 days to allow for public review and comments. You can find it at www.dos.ny.gov/info/publications.html and are free to submit comments. Without any significant opposition, these restrictions could be officially adopted.
Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti has proposed new legislation, Bill No. A08651, to clarify, once and for all, that New Yorkers have the right to contract with private pet cemeteries for the disposal of their cremains alongside their pets without interference from any government agency!
If you care about protecting your rights, give Assembly member Abinanti your support and contact your own Assembly Member and State Senator to urge their support for this proposed bill!
The NY Department of State is proposing new regulations sought by the Cemetery Board that would require pet cemeteries to meet certain conditions before they could permit burial of a pet owner's ashes alongside their pets. These conditions include prohibiting pet cemeteries from advertising, promoting or even informing pet owners that this option is available, prohibiting pet cemeteries from charging a fee for the labor to provide for burial, and requiring pet cemeteries to give pet owners seeking to be buried written notification that pet cemeteries do not afford the consumer protections that govern traditional human cemeteries.
Eventually, this proposed regulation should be posted in the New York State Register for 90 days to allow for public review and comments. You can find it at www.dos.ny.gov/info/publications.html and are free to submit comments. Without any significant opposition, these restrictions could be officially adopted.
Back Off My Rights!!
Ensuring Government Agencies Do Not Exceed Their Powers
The Battle in New York to Allow Pet Owners To Rest in Eternal Peace Alongside their Pet Families:
Korean War Veteran and retired NYC Police Officer Tom Ryan and his wife, Bunny, were never able to have children, but like many pet owners, they enjoyed the unconditional love and devotion of their canine pet “family.” Tom and Bunny lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, the same apartment Tom's mother lived in when she came over from Ireland in 1946. Their first beloved companion was "B.J.", pictured at right, a Maltese. B.J. captured their hearts and brought them endless love and joy.
When B.J. passed in 1990, Tom and Bunny couldn't bear to just bury him anywhere. It was then that they discovered the celebrated and historic Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY. (You can visit their website at www.petcem.com.) They happily purchased a plot for use as the eternal resting place for their little family. Today, their plot holds their two beloved dogs, BJ the First and BJ the Second, and the cremated remains of Bunny, who passed away in 2008.
When B.J. passed in 1990, Tom and Bunny couldn't bear to just bury him anywhere. It was then that they discovered the celebrated and historic Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY. (You can visit their website at www.petcem.com.) They happily purchased a plot for use as the eternal resting place for their little family. Today, their plot holds their two beloved dogs, BJ the First and BJ the Second, and the cremated remains of Bunny, who passed away in 2008.
Tom's Ashes Sat Alone While the NY Cemetery Board
Illegally Banned Pet Owners From Burying Their Ashes Alongside Their Pet Families
Tom made pre-paid arrangements to have his cremated remains buried alongside his wife and family, but when he passed away in April 2011, his wish was blocked by a decision of the New York Cemetery Board to prohibit pet cemeteries from providing burial service of a pet owner’s cremains. To make matters worse, the Board has no legal authority to institute such a ban.
New Yorkers are free to bury their ashes on private property, even in pet cemeteries, and this ban is a grotesque abuse of bureaucratic power that needs to be stopped, not just for pet owners, but for every New Yorker who wants to preserve their right to self determination in after death care.
New Yorkers are free to bury their ashes on private property, even in pet cemeteries, and this ban is a grotesque abuse of bureaucratic power that needs to be stopped, not just for pet owners, but for every New Yorker who wants to preserve their right to self determination in after death care.
People Have Rights, Not the Government!
Urgent Action Was Needed to Stop This Unlawful Ban Against Burying Pet Owners' Ashes in Pet Cemeteries
Every New Yorker Ha Right to Choose Less Expensive, Environmentally Friendly Cremation Alternatives for After Death Care
Every New Yorker Ha Right to Choose Less Expensive, Environmentally Friendly Cremation Alternatives for After Death Care
The Government does not have "rights." People have rights. In this country, we are born with the right to self determination, to be free to do whatever we wish, unless there is a law passed by the appropriate legislative body that gives the Government the power and authority to infringe upon our rights. Thus, there doesn' have to be a law saying you can do something for you to be able to do it.
Further, any such law that does infringe on your rights had better be in accordance with the fundamental protections provided to us under the U.S. Constitution and individual state constitutions. Unfortunately, the folks at the New
York Division of Cemeteries, specifically the members of
the Cemetery Board, have lost sight of this essential, fundamental truth.
Earlier this year, the Cemetery Board issued a ban prohibiting private pet cemeteries from continuing to provide pet owners the added accommodation of burying their ashes alongside their pet companions in their own plots on private land. Pet cemeteries that defy this edict will, as the Board phrased it, "face action," though it has never clarified exactly what that means. Speculation is that pet cemeteries could potentially see the NY Division of Licensing suspend or perhaps even revoke their licenses to operate.
The problem is the Board does not have the legal authority to issue this ban. There is no law prohibiting a person from burying their ashes on private property. There is no law that gives the Board the authority to interfere with private arrangements between a pet owner and a private business for the burial of their ashes. There is no law that gives the Board the right to sanction pet cemeteries for burial of pet owner ashes on private land in a private pet cemetery.
So, while numerous plot owners who had already made arrangements to be buried with their pets and many people who simply are outraged by this abuse of power over a person's right to do as they wish with their ashes have made appeals to the Board to rescind their ban, a quiet little bill has been proposed in the Senate and Assembly that would attempt to give the Board absolute power over all burial grounds, including private pet cemeteries.
The Board claims it is issuing the ban as a consumer protection issue, because there are no laws governing how pet cemeteries must operate regarding burial of human ashes. Yet, there is evidence to suggest that the real reason is to protect the financial interests of human cemeteries that are in decline due to the increasing choice of cremation over traditional burial. Not only is this ban a threat to pet owners' rights to be buried where they choose, it has the potential to set a precedent whereby the Board can crush every less expensive, environmentally-friendly alternative to the increasingly expensive tradition of human burial in human-only cemeteries.
This issue goes far beyond the rights of pet owners. It impacts every New Yorker's right to self detemination over after death care, every small business owners' right to be competitive and provide a lawful service their customers desire, and even every state legislator who wishes to protect their exclusive authority to make law as representatives of the people from government officials who seek to make their own "laws" (in the form of regulations) serving only their agendas (or those of their most influential lobbyists) without public input or representation.
New Yorkers Need to Take Action and Be Heard
Before It's Too Late!!
Thank you for your interest and, hopefully, your support. Feel free to submit comments or questions to info@backoffmyrights.org.
About This Site
My name is Taylor York, niece to Tom and Bunny (pictured at left) and one of countless New Yorkers concerned over government agencies whose employees unlawfully exceed the powers granted to them as they make regulatory decisions that promote their own personal beliefs and agendas (or those of their most influential lobbyists) at the expense of our individual rights and freedoms.
I created this website as an informational forum for people who wish to learn more about the recent directive issued by the New York Cemetery Board, the administrative arm of the Division of Cemeteries, banning the burial of a pet owner's ashes alongside their pets in private pet cemeteries, and what they can do to help fight this unlawful ban.
My uncle was one of those pet owners. He died in April and had pre-paid arrangements to have his ashes buried alongside his wife and two beloved dogs at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. Currently, his ashes sit on a shelf in his sister's home pending resolution of this dispute over the right to bury him as he wished to be buried and as he has the legal right to be buried.
This fight affects more than just pet owners--it impacts every New Yorker's right to self detemination over after death care, every small business owners' right to be competitive and provide a lawful service their customers desire, and even every state legislator who wishes to protect their exclusive authority to make law as representatives of the people from government officials who seek to make their own "laws" (in the form of regulations) serving only their agendas without public input or representation.
There is this tendency to believe that just because a government agency or bureaucracy says something is so, then it must be so, to believe that just because government officials say they can do something, then they must have the "right" to do so. This is not true. Government employees all too easily blur the lines between what they actually have the authority to regulate and what they think they have the power to regulate, but don't.
When a government agency or bureaucracy oversteps the powers and authority granted to it by the People, it is the People who must police the Government and bring it back in line with the boundaries we have imposed upon the Government's power. We accomplish this through exerting influence over our elected officials, or at least that is how it is supposed to work.
This website is a mix of facts, law, and my opinions. I am an attorney and also a full-time college professor teaching constitutional law, business law, and ethics. I have both prosecuted and defended people under the law. I have first-hand experience with government agencies and employees grossly overstepping their powers and violating their oaths in violation of an individual's rights. What I have to say has merit in my eyes, but you may decide for yourself what you will credit or dismiss.
My goal is (1) to get my uncle buried in his plot alongside his family as is his lawful right, and (2) to encourage all citizens to keep in check "well-meaning" government employees trying to tell us, in New York and across the Nation, what we can and can't do with our lives, our bodies and our businesses.
If you wish to be heard on this issue, please contact the Cemetery Board, your State Senator and Assembly Member, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Health, and everyone you know and urge them to help rectify this injustice.
I created this website as an informational forum for people who wish to learn more about the recent directive issued by the New York Cemetery Board, the administrative arm of the Division of Cemeteries, banning the burial of a pet owner's ashes alongside their pets in private pet cemeteries, and what they can do to help fight this unlawful ban.
My uncle was one of those pet owners. He died in April and had pre-paid arrangements to have his ashes buried alongside his wife and two beloved dogs at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. Currently, his ashes sit on a shelf in his sister's home pending resolution of this dispute over the right to bury him as he wished to be buried and as he has the legal right to be buried.
This fight affects more than just pet owners--it impacts every New Yorker's right to self detemination over after death care, every small business owners' right to be competitive and provide a lawful service their customers desire, and even every state legislator who wishes to protect their exclusive authority to make law as representatives of the people from government officials who seek to make their own "laws" (in the form of regulations) serving only their agendas without public input or representation.
There is this tendency to believe that just because a government agency or bureaucracy says something is so, then it must be so, to believe that just because government officials say they can do something, then they must have the "right" to do so. This is not true. Government employees all too easily blur the lines between what they actually have the authority to regulate and what they think they have the power to regulate, but don't.
When a government agency or bureaucracy oversteps the powers and authority granted to it by the People, it is the People who must police the Government and bring it back in line with the boundaries we have imposed upon the Government's power. We accomplish this through exerting influence over our elected officials, or at least that is how it is supposed to work.
This website is a mix of facts, law, and my opinions. I am an attorney and also a full-time college professor teaching constitutional law, business law, and ethics. I have both prosecuted and defended people under the law. I have first-hand experience with government agencies and employees grossly overstepping their powers and violating their oaths in violation of an individual's rights. What I have to say has merit in my eyes, but you may decide for yourself what you will credit or dismiss.
My goal is (1) to get my uncle buried in his plot alongside his family as is his lawful right, and (2) to encourage all citizens to keep in check "well-meaning" government employees trying to tell us, in New York and across the Nation, what we can and can't do with our lives, our bodies and our businesses.
If you wish to be heard on this issue, please contact the Cemetery Board, your State Senator and Assembly Member, the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Health, and everyone you know and urge them to help rectify this injustice.