(ANSA) - Two animal-loving businessmen from Milan plan to open Europe's biggest animal cemetery early next year, providing what they say is a vital service for people like themselves.
The two entrepreneurs, who recently announced their initiative by setting up a website, say they have already received dozens of phone calls from people asking for information.
"They're calling us from all over Italy," said Mauro Pupillo, one of the project's promoters.
He and his partner have identified a 12,000-square-metre piece of land near the town of Lodi and are currently finishing up the bureaucracy which will allow them to use it as a cemetery.
The site, due to open in March, is to be called The Rainbow Bridge. It will be equipped for the burial of small
pets such as dogs and cats, but also bigger animals such as horses. According to the plan, the cemetery will have hundreds of plots laid out on well-kept lawns. Each plot will be a miniature garden and there will be trees and a stream running by.
The graves will have a white marble headstone, on which the animal's name and dates can be engraved. At an extra cost, there will also be spaces for photos.
"We saw there was substantial demand for this sort of service," said Pupillo, explaining that he and his partner
had looked carefully at what was already on offer in Italy before coming up with their own plan.
"We also looked at the rest of Europe, especially Britain where they do things well and with style."
There are already a few animal cemeteries dotted around Italy - in Tuscany, Puglia and Sicily - but Pupillo said they were small and in the longterm would be unable to cope with the scale of the demand.
"We're aiming to carry out a public service, by drawing up special contracts with local administrations,
animal-lovers' associations and vets," he said. According to animal rights' associations, the number of
pets owned by Italians is growing every year. The total is currently estimated at 45.5 million.
It has still to be decided how much it will cost to bury an animal in The Rainbow Bridge site. Pupillo said he was still working on the price list, hinting that the size of the animal would be a factor in the cost.
He stressed however that prices would be competitive with cremation, the only real alternative for true animal lovers.
