Devastated pet owners gathered to demand justice from a funeral home owner accused of dumping their animals instead of cremating them.
“To this day, I still have nightmares about my dog being in the garbage,” Rhonda Sciore told Channel 11.
Rhonda Sciore brought photos of her dog, Boomer, to the Allegheny Courthouse today, weeks after she was notified that Boomer was never cremated like she thought.
Instead, investigators with the Attorney General’s office say funeral director Patrick Vereb dumped her pet and thousands of others in a landfill — and gave pet owners whatever ashes he had on hand between 2021-2024.
“When you put your trust in someone who you think they’re going to do the right thing, and they don’t, it breaks your trust in humanity and it’s really hard,” she added.
She told Channel 11, when she first received Boomer’s remains, she was skeptical.
“For a 60 lb dog, her pictures should have been in an 8x10 [frame] with a gallon bag of ashes. So, I probably got the ashes back of a cat. I know I don’t have her, but I will always respect the ashes I do have,” she said.
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Detectives say more than 6,500 pet owners around Southwestern PA were impacted.
Sherri Loy is another victim, and she told us she doesn’t know if the ashes she has belong to her dog, Bruno.
“Whoever he is, is coming with me when I die. We’ve been trying to keep awareness about this. We don’t want this to go away,” Loy said.
Vereb is out on bond and a trial date has not been set for him at this time.
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