MMD: Should I let them bury the dog?

richyje

Surely this has got to be a no..

I cant believe some prospective purchaser had the cheek to ask.

These days, who knows what someone might be planning... The dog could be stuffed with drugs, and you wouldnt know anything about it until the Police turned up at your front door.

Store him in the freezer until they move in I say...

Errata

tbs624 wrote: »

Sssh, it's okay, see all the following posts.........even Henpecked's own link didn't help

I'm sure some people have been saving an AE for just this situation

Kiko4564

I would not let them break the law by burying the dog in their new house's garden but would recommend a legit method of burying the dog nearby.

put_together_wrong

It is OK to bury a pet, but it is illegal to exhume it. I checked it out when my cat died recently. So bear in mind if you do let them bury the dog and the sale falls through it would be illegal (and rather unpleasant) for them to dig the dog up. If you agree - ensure the hole is very deep, and cover with large stones / plant a tree to prevent it being dug up.

Ebenezer_Screwj

Are they going to have a funeral service as well ? Presumably they would dig the dog back up again if the sale falls through so suggest that they have it cremated and then they can bury the ashes wherever they end up living next.

Amethyst_ice

I thought there were laws depending the size of the animal. A great dane would need a very large hole and it would have to be the legal depth.

Until they signed for the house i wouldn't let them, purely what if the sale didnt go through, would they want to then dig up their dog?

Perhaps they could store him at the vets until the sale went through. I would ahve loved to have all my past animals with me when i moved house...thats why we cremated my dog so she can move house with us

[Deleted User]

Not the same seriousness as a dead pet but we had a problem years ago when we'd got to the same stage with the sale of our house. The prospective buyer wanted to plant loads of fruit trees and bushes in the garden so as not to miss out on the season's growth. We agreed to it but it was a nuisance as he was turning up with a mate at all hours and making a real mess of some of my much-loved flower beds. Obviously his design for what went where was not the same as mine! His wife was an agent for a mail-order catalogue and she jumped the gun by notifying the catalogue company of a prospective address-change even before contracts were exchanged. the upshot was that we kept getting masses of parcels delivered for her which was an inconvenience as our homes were about 20 miles apart, there's no public transport and she didn't drive! Every time we phoned her to say something had arrived she put on the pathetic act and we used to drive there to drop them off for her. We were way too soft and no petrol money was ever offered us.
Anyway, for a variety of reasons the house sale fell through at the 11th hour and a LOT of embarrassment , ill-feeling and downright animosity was created which went on for weeks as they came to dig up their plants etc.
Whatever you decide please don't forget that unless the contracts are well and truly exchanged, the sale is NOT guaranteed.

taxing

In a word - no.

acestuff

Yes why not - it's only a dog! It might not mean anything to you but it's obviously something that matters to them. So long as you're planning to accept their offer... And the deal won't fall through their end if they have their beloved dog burried in the garden

If all goes wrong, they sound like people who'd come and get the dog and take it elsewhere.
If they don't it doesn't matter that it's burried in the garden: you're selling anyway!

sphrp2

Slightly off topic (sorry) but I've never had a more appropriate opportunity to tell this tale that I think needs to be told. :huh:

This discussion reminded me of the beautiful sketch map left for us by the previous owner of our house. It was a scale diagram of the garden, marked with the positions of all the animals that had been buried there, including "cat (ours)" and "cat (stray)". I wasn't planning on digging up either, but maybe the distinction would've helped if I'd had to choose?!?

Also, I accidentally exhumed a pigeon (!) when planting a shrub (I know - should have consulted the map), which had been buried wrapped in 3 layers of plastic bag. I don't recommend anyone does THAT when burying animals.