PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WKRC) – A funeral director was accused of disposing of 6,500 deceased pets intended for cremation into landfills and giving the owners ashes of random animals.
According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, the owner of Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorial, 70-year-old Jacob Vereb, was charged with theft by deception, receiving stolen property, and deceptive business practices after he reportedly threw “thousands of dogs and cats” into landfills that owners had already paid for cremation, burial, and ash return services. The scheme reportedly netted Vereb over $650,000.
“Verb took money in exchange for private cremation services, then disposed of many of the pets at a landfill and provided customers with ashes of other, unknown animals,” officials said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
The Office of the Attorney General created a website for victims to submit their statements and share their stories about how the alleged crime affected them, while also allowing them to learn if their pet was one of the animals incorrectly disposed of.
“Nearly a dozen veterinary practices and businesses worked with the Office of the Attorney General to confirm that Vereb collected at least $657,517 in fees from pet owners who were promised a private cremation for their pet, but did not receive the actual ashes of their pet,” the office said in a statement. “Eternity Pet Memorial received the pets directly from consumers or through area veterinarians.”
No other information was released, and authorities said the investigation was still ongoing.
