Thistlerose pet cemetery comes to a sad ending

Everlife Memorials headstone 

The loss of  life, in any form is a touchy subject. The amount of grief and/or comfort one finds in the death of a companion is measurable only by the individual. Many of us understand this loss is not only felt for human life...  grieving the loss of a pet for many is just as painful.

We have all been emotionally touched by the cemetery scandal in Illinois. The thought of finding your love one unearthed and lost is beyond concept. A crime was committed at Burr Oaks but, there are laws that protected those families rights and although they were violated, people will be punished for their contribution. Many pet owners are facing a similar situation in Milwaukee, and there are no laws to protect them. Thankfully, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter has stepped up to the plate.

Thistlerose Pet Cemetery has to many Milwaukee pet owner's become a nightmare similar to Burr Oaks . Thistlerose belonged to Eleanor Jolly, who ran a kennel, pet cemetery and crematory for fifty years on the corner of  South 68th and West Loomis Road in Glendale. The business she loved gave comfort and contentment to many pet owners who left their beloved animals in Eleanor's care. One pet buried there actually belonged to the actress Jayne Mansfield (mother of Law and Order SVU actress Mariska Hargitay) who lost her dog while working in Milwaukee.  Now Jayne's dog and many other pets are being removed from their “final” resting place.

Eleanor died at the age of 92 in 2008. Unfortunately her grandchildren had no interest in the family business and chose to sell the property - graves and all. It has taken them a while to disburse of their burden... and they would have done so quietly if it weren't for the efforts of a Journal Sentinel reporter Jim Stingl. Mr. Stingl has been reporting on this issue since the initial hint of problems in 2008 and has chronicled the story as an issue that wavered between legal rights and moral conscious. Because the state of Wisconsin has no law in regards to Pet Cemeteries the family had no legal obligation to inform those who paid Mrs. Jolly to care for the internment of their pets. Fortunately the family has done what morally is the equivalent of  “what they can” to accommodate the pet owners. They have contacted those who's records they have (Eleanor kept records in a spiral notebook); they have posted signs at the property for those they couldn't reach, giving instructions to remove their pets if they so wished. And, finally the remaining animals are being placed in a mass grave at Companion Rest Pet Cemetery in Oak Creek. They will have a grave stone commemorating the cemetery... “the animals of Thistlerose”, not the pets individually. The grave stones are to be used to make a path.

While this is a sad ending, at this point it appears that the efforts of one reporter have protected these deceased from the dumpsters... and we thank you Mr. Stingl!