Owners Asked To Retrieve Headstones At OKC Pet Cemetery Due To Construction

A construction engineer with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is asking people who buried their pets at a south Oklahoma City pet cemetery to retrieve the headstones, due to construction that’s set to begin on the property.

The pet cemetery is located at the southwest corner of Interstate 35 and Interstate 240 in south Oklahoma City. According to Joe Echelle, Construction Engineer for ODOT Division Four, as part of the expansion of the I-240 and I-35 interchange, crews will begin to access this property for utility relocations in the coming weeks.

Echelle posted a Craigslist ad to get the word out. He said hundreds of pets were laid to rest on this property in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

“I just feel like it was the right time to try to get the word out to somebody about coming and maybe gathering their family’s pet,” said Echelle. “I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do to either bury or dig up the headstones. For me, it’s from one animal lover to another, I think we ought to show some respect for people who spent some money at some time to bury an animal.”

Echelle said many people saw the ad and contacted him, telling him that they had buried their pets there when they were young. 

“They were interested in just coming back out here and looking for it,” Echelle said.

Echelle said crews have mowed the property and marked the graves to make it easier for owners to come and retrieve their pets’ headstones.