Kathy Shores of Methuen waters flowers on gravesides of the Hillside Acres pet cemetery. Shores is planning on being buried with her pets, three of which are already deceased and buried at Hillside Acres in Methuen. 

METHUEN, Mass. — Over the years, Kathy Shores has had plenty of pets.

While she loves them all, the Massachusetts resident forged a special bond with Phoebe, a boxer dog that, like Shores, suffered from epilepsy. When Phoebe died of cancer in 2009 at just 5-and-a-half years old, Shores knew what she wanted to happen when she ultimately passes.

“That was the turning point for me where I said, ‘I want to be with Phoebe when I die,'” she said.

Eventually, Shores will be buried with Phoebe – and several of her other dogs – at the MSPCA’s Hillside Acre Animal Cemetery at Nevins Farm in Methuen.

But legislation currently before the state’s Joint Committee on Public Health could allow Shores, and other pet owners, to be buried with their pets in traditional cemeteries.

The committee on Tuesday held a hearing on the bill (H 3272), sponsored by state Rep. Nick Collins, D-Boston, which would give municipalities or organizations that run cemeteries the option to designate part of a cemetery for animals to be buried with their owners. That option is currently prohibited by state law. 

Most states either don’t allow pets and humans to be buried together, or their laws don’t address the issue. Some states do, including New York and New Jersey, which allow cremated human remains to be buried with a pet, but only in a pet cemetery; Pennsylvania, which allows cemeteries to have three sections – one for humans, one for pets and an area for both; and Virginia, which passed a law in 2014 that allows cemeteries to have clearly marked sections where pets and humans may be buried alongside one another. 

Opinions on the Massachusetts legislation are split. The bill is facing opposition from the Massachusetts Cemetery Association, but others, including the MSPCA, have voiced support for it.

Kara Holmquist, the MSPCA’s director of advocacy, said her organization would be submitting written testimony to the joint committee in support of the measure and would offer assistance to help the bill move forward.

Holmquist noted that the “human-animal bond” has grown in recent years, and said the MSPCA supported the idea of people being buried with their pets.

“Pets are a type of family member to a lot of people, so I would understand why they would want to be laid to rest with them,” she said.

Hillside Acre allows humans’ cremated remains to be buried with their pets. About a dozen people have been buried alongside their beloved pets at the cemetery, which is home to the graves of more than 18,000 animals, said Dave Gordon, property manager for Nevins Farm and Hillside.

Gordon said that allowing owners to be buried with their pets was “a no-brainer.”

“Once an animal is cremated, there’s no contamination, so what’s wrong with putting their remains with a human?” he said.

Shores agreed, and said she also supports the proposed bill.

“It’s something I would do because I want to be with my pets, and my husband,” she said. “I support it 100 percent.”

Shores has volunteered at the MSPCA for 11 years, and at Hillside Acre for six. Two of her dogs have been buried there – Phoebe and Caramel, a Vizsla and Pit Bull mix – and she owns four lots at the cemetery. A memory stone garden, featuring a stone for her Labrador and Rottweiler mix, Midnight, is dedicated to her and her husband, Roland Shores.

Eventually, as is written in her will, Shores will be buried there, too. She’ll most likely be joined by the three boxer dogs she currently owns, Abby, Emie and Herbie.

“As far as having animal remains buried with a person, I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

Kashinsky writes for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass. CNHI statehouse reporter Christian Wade contributed to this report.