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City councillor Shelby Ch’ng wants administration to consider allowing pets to be buried in cemeteries with their owners.

It was discussed last week at city council prior to the approval of the new cemetery bylaw.

Other municipalities in Ontario have considered changing their bylaws in recent years to allow this type of pet burial.

By-Law Number 116-2024 says that pets are not allowed to be buried on cemetery grounds, including their cremated remains.

At the meeting, Ch’ng points out that this could be an opportunity to generate revenue and the number of pet owners continues to grow since the pandemic.

“With this growing demographic of pets, I think we’re leaving money on the table if we don’t include pets in our cemetery,” said Ch’ng at the meeting.

She points out that 80 percent of pet owners consider their pets as part of the family.

A report will be brought back to council by administration October 7, 2024.