ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — The owner of a pet memorial business in western Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to theft by deception after investigators say he dumped the remains of customers’ pets into a landfill before providing customers with the ashes of other, unknown animals.
Patrick Vereb Sr., 72, who owns Eternity Pet Memorial, took over $650,000 in payments from customers between 2021 and 2024, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Over 6,500 customers paid for private cremation services for their pets, Attorney General Dave Sunday said, but they instead received the ashes of other animals.
“As a pet owner, I know that losing a pet is like losing a family member, and the defendant’s conduct, without a doubt, worsened that pain for these victims,” Sunday said in a release. “No sentence can alleviate the grief and heartache that has been caused here, but our hope is this felony conviction provides a measure of closure as it involves the defendant taking responsibility and admitting to what he did.”
The attorney general’s office said it’s received thousands of victim impact statements that it plans to share during Vereb’s sentencing.
Prosecutors also hope Vereb will be ordered to pay restitution.
Vereb’s bail was revoked Thursday, and he was committed to prison in Allegheny County. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2027.