A Pittsburgh funeral home director is facing charges after prosecutors said he threw out the bodies of thousands of pets and gave owners the ashes of other animals.
Seventy-year-old Patrick Vereb, the owner of Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorial, is accused of stealing more than $650,000 from over 6,500 customers who paid for pet burial and cremation services between 2021 and 2024, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General announced on Monday.
Funeral director accused of throwing pets in landfill
Through about 20 veterinary practices and businesses, Vereb collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from pet owners who were promised a private cremation for their pet, prosecutors said. But instead of performing the services, investigators said Vereb threw many of the pets out at a landfill, giving customers the ashes of other unknown animals.
Tiffany Mantzouridis told KDKA-TV there were several red flags when she was an intern at Vereb Funeral Home. She said the pets’ bodies were kept in garbage bags on top of freezers and there were discrepancies in recordkeeping.
“He would take the ashes back from the crematory, and they come back in a big bag with plastic bags with twist ties on them that have the metal tag twisted onto them. And then, for some unknown reason, would take that bag into his apartment, close the door, mess around with the ashes, and they would all come back and zip lock baggies with no tags,” said Mantzouridis.
A woman whose cat was cremated through Vereb’s business said she has a zip-close bag of ashes, but there’s no crematory tag, leaving her to wonder whose remains she actually has. She called the allegations “disturbing,” a sentiment echoed by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.
“This case is disturbing, and will cause devastation and heartache for many Pennsylvanians,” Sunday said in a press release. “Our pets are members of our families, and this defendant betrayed and agonized pet owners who entrusted him to provide dignified services for their beloved cats and dogs. I commend our investigative team for a comprehensive review of voluminous records which uncovered this long-running pattern of theft and deception.”
Who are the victims?
The state has launched a website that potential victims are encouraged to use. In addition to vets, prosecutors said Vereb also found victims through walk-in and direct-pay clients of Eternity Pet Memorial. The attorney general’s office says it has identified victims from Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is asking potential victims from 2021 through 2024 to fill out a form online.
According to the office’s website, the following vets and businesses were impacted: Affordable Care, All About Pets, Always Compassionate, Imperial Animal Hospital, Kapr Funeral Home, Kiski Valley Animal Clinic, K-Vet, Loyalhanna Animal Hospital, Meadowlands, Plum Animal Hospital, River Valley, Dr. Mary Ann Bender, Pet Haven Pet Cemetery, Frankie’s Friends, Sable Kennels, Little Creek Farm, Golden Mile Animal Clinic, Greengate Animal Clinic, Salem Animal Hospital and Monongahela Animal Hospital.
Vereb is facing felony counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices. He surrendered Monday afternoon and was arraigned on the charges before he was released on his own recognizance.
