Walked down to the mailboxes last Friday. Beautiful day despite the snow and ice underfoot. Ran into one of my neighbors returning home in his truck and we both paused to have a visit. He told me his old dog had died and his son had buried him in the back yard. This was very good news! The dog in discussion was a very old dog. And quite a large dog; your typical over bred, over fed Labrador Retriever. The son in discussion equally overfed though young in comparison to the dog. Point here not someone inclined to think lightly of digging a hole sufficient to accommodate a big dead dog through all the snow, ice, and frozen ground beneath. One of the advantages to living in the country is the ability to bury deceased pets and even livestock without fear of repercussion from neighbors, urban officials, or subdivision association rule enforcers. If you have enough land and are far enough off the beaten path you can even bury old Aunt Alice. Michigan law says: It shall be lawful for any person or persons in this state to lay out and survey any tract of land not included within the corporate limits of any city or village which may be owned by such person or persons, as a private burial ground for the use of their families or descendants for purposes of interment of members of such families and descendants, and for no other purpose, not exceeding in quantity 1 acre of land, and may make a deed of the same to some person or persons to be named therein as trustees, with such provisions for continuing such trusteeship as they shall deem necessary, which said deed shall be acknowledged by such persons making the same, in the same manner as other deeds of land, and shall be recorded in the county where such land shall lie. The above excerpt is the BIG hoop; there are several smaller hoops to jump through prior to putting shovel to soil in the aftermath of a loved ones passing. Establishing family ties is one of those many obstacles and here could be problematic as we tend towards an inclusiveness that has swelled the ranks of the farm family with little regard to legal or biological connections. Eyeing these hoops has fueled more than a few dinner table discussions and Ive actually initiated investigation into legally establishing a family burial ground here on my farm (Bruce - next lunch topic!). And Im talking about planting the whole package not just scattering ashes. The scattering of ashes is legal any where any time though interestingly there are regulations involved actually burying human ashes whether in the jar or out. Seldom if ever enforced; who would know since the urns are just handed out post-cremation and thats that? But the powers that be wont let you just toss a corpse in your trunk and head home from the hospital or hospice center. A few other nuggets Ive learned in the course of this investigation; prohibitions and thou shalt not(s) as in it is illegal to: Use profane, indecent, or obscene language in the presence of a dead human body [or within the immediate hearing of the family or relatives of a deceased] whose body has not yet been interred or otherwise disposed of.------AFTER the body is buried you can cuss all you want but by golly theyll getcha if you dont watch your mouth during the service! Refuse to promptly surrender the custody of a dead human body, upon the express order of the person lawfully entitled to the custody.------NO tugs of war over carcasses allowed! You can fight over Grandmas china and lace tablecloth but not over her bones! Use a casket or part of a casket which has been previously used [for burial of a human corpse] as a receptacle for, or in connection with, the burial or other disposition of another dead human body. -------Now this one really gives pause for thought. First of all just what is other disposition of a dead human body? What if the casket was previously used to bury a live human? Can I recycle a used human casket to build pet caskets? Can I reuse a casket to bury another human body if said body is not dead? Can I claim belief in Eternal Life, as embraced in may forms by many religions including mine, negates this statute? (Beg forgiveness for sacrilege; just thinking out loud) If the answer to any of these is Yes what are the guidelines for emptying the casket in the first place? Better do more research! But I have it on good authority - that of many friends, family and even casual visitors - that this is a Spiritual place. Serenity and a sense of the Holy abound. If the thought of embracing Eternity from the crest of my Memorial Hill appeals to you we can start adoption proceedings ---------- Oh, yes, the dog. No, Im not happy the dog died, it was a beloved, inoffensive old dog. Im happy the out-of-shape son could manage to dig a 3 x 3 hole because that means there is NO FROST IN THE GROUND and all this blankety blank melting snow will have somewhere to go! Guess I got a little off subject!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:04:19 +0000
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