A place to remember

By Scott Marshall
Published: November 10, 2008

In an otherwise non-descript field near the new Amherst County animal facility lies a pet cemetery.

Not long ago, it was overgrown with brush and had fences in need of repair until it got an extreme makeover from a Boy Scout working on his Eagle award project.

Perhaps unbeknownst to many is that the cemetery, created 25 years ago, is the final resting place for 540 animals, including a horse, according to the Humane Society of Amherst County.

“There are people who come back year after year to put flowers out for their animals,” said Popie Martin, the society’s treasurer. “It means a lot to people.”

The aspiring Eagle Scout, Jacob Dobyns, an 18-year-old Amherst County High School senior, organized an entire team to renovate the grounds and spent a month on it, personally amassing 54 hours on the project.

“Because I like animals and because no one knows they’re out here, I thought I would do something for them,” said Dobyns, a member of Lynchburg Troop 128 based at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I saw this and figured I could expand it.”

He understands how people relate to their animals –– and how a cemetery for pets provides a place of peace for their grieving humans.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve been around animals,” Dobyns said. “I’ve gotten attached to animals.”

His family has three dogs –– Bo, Chien and Zipper, all mixed breeds –– and three cats, Peter, Kitty Guy and Jasmine.

Besides Dobyns, eight other Scouts worked for 113 hours on the project, including his brother, Josh, 15, an Amherst High sophomore. Another 21 non-Scouts, including his parents Tom and Denise Dobyns, spent 181 hours on it, for a total of 348 hours.

The cemetery is surrounded by 720 feet of fence, of which hundreds of feet were replaced. Seven businesses donated materials such as cement, paint, bolts, food, fencing and treated lumber.

Adults brought in a tractor with a front-end loader, a brush cutter and chain saws. Hundreds of feet of brush were cleared.

Dobyns also built benches and created a landscaped area for visitors, including moving a 300-pound stone to the area and finding and restoring a small Virgin Mary statue.

When people saw the newly renovated cemetery at the grand opening of the animal shelter Nov. 1, they were surprised, Dobyns recalled.

“The day we came here … I had a bunch of people come up and tell me how happy they were,” he said. “They’ve had animals buried here.

“I didn’t know I’d get a reaction like I did; it felt pretty good.”

Josh plans to continue work at the cemetery after Jake graduates.

The cemetery is on Shelter Lane, off North Coolwell Road near Faulconerville.

Marshall, managing editor of The New Era-Progress in Amherst, can be reached at .