A Baltimore pet crematorium brought together several pet owners who claim to have been scammed by a Baltimore County pet crematorium.
Charm City Pet Crematorium held a candlelight vigil in honor of those impacted by Loving Care Pet Crematorium in Catonsville.
Baltimore County investigators said they found the bodies of 38 cats and dogs packed inside a hearse on the Catonsville property. Detectives said they were notified of an improper disposal complaint at the beginning of April.
Pet owners said they received sand or concrete instead of their pet’s ashes.
“This is terrible to put people through this level of trauma,” said Lindsay Taylor, one of the impacted pet owners.
“My cat’s gone,” Juanita Logan, another pet owner, said. “I don’t know where the ashes are, don’t know where he is.”
“We saw how many were affected, and there just wasn’t another option,” said Zoey Robinson-Budreski, the owner of Charm City Pet Crematory.
A sense of healing
Robinson-Budreski said she wanted this ceremony to bring a sense of healing.
“Closure is needed, and they need to be properly memorialized,” she said. “I couldn’t do it for them in the beginning. So by doing this, it’s the right thing to do.”
“This was a blessing,” Logan said. “I can be around other people who went through the same thing as I did.”
Her support extends beyond consoling hurting pet owners. She’s cremated the bodies of recovered pets that have been identified, and she’s given those ashes to their owners.
“The other ones found in the hearse, most of them, except for I think about 10 are still without family members,” Robinson-Budreski said. “So, we donated all of the cremation costs.”
She said additional resources will be in place for pet owners still mourning.
“We’re going to continue having support groups for all of them and make sure that we are here to support them,” Robinson-Budreski said. “I really think this is going to be a nice feeling that they don’t feel alone for being conned. A lot of them just keep saying ‘I should have known.'”
