Margie Fishman

The News Journal

The Delaware SPCA has notified the state that its Stanton pet cemetery, indeed, contains human remains.

On Monday, the state Division of Public Health received a cemetery registration application from the nonprofit animal welfare organization. In her letter, Interim Executive Director Tiffany Briddell stated that after clearing brush from the site, the Delaware SPCA was able to locate "the headstone of Ms. Ligon and her pet Lady."

"We will not remove the stone or dig to confirm the ashes of Ms. Ligon," Briddell wrote. "We will accept the stone as proof."

Registering the Ligon parcel means that the Delaware SPCA must commit to its care in perpetuity, a state health department spokeswoman said.

But it's still unclear what will happen to the rest of the cemetery and the Stanton shelter building, which closed in June and was supposed to be sold for potential development. Briddell would only confirm Tuesday that the organization had registered the cemetery. She told The News Journal to expect a press release in September regarding the land sale.

In an email late last month, Interim Board President Diane Ferry reiterated to The News Journal that the board had unanimously approved selling the Stanton property, located next to the Border Café off Stanton Christiana Road.

"We have many details to work out," Ferry wrote, adding that the property was not currently listed for sale.

Ferry also confirmed that Andrea Perlak, the organization's former executive director, was no longer on the Delaware SPCA's payroll as of June 29. Perlak previously announced publicly that she would resign from her role as of June 1. But she spent the remainder of that month working as a full-time "board liaison" at her current pay rate of $63.10 per hour, according to a job description obtained by The News Journal. Among Perlak's responsibilities was to handle the Stanton property sale.

Previously, SPCA leaders said they weren't aware of human remains in their pet cemetery located behind the Stanton shelter, despite conflicting reports from a former SPCA director and board meeting minutes. When asked in June about the possibility of a human buried among the animal remains, SPCA attorney Geoffrey R. Johnson of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, told The News Journal that was "absurd."

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The News Journal obtained Delaware SPCA board meeting minutes from December 1980 showing that the board approved interring "Miss Ligon's ashes" in the cemetery. In an interview, former longtime Delaware SPCA director John Caldwell said he personally saw the headstone during his tenure, though he could not recall the name of the individual.

A pet cemetery contract from 1973, also obtained by The News Journal, shows that nationally recognized sculptor Maurine Ligon buried her collie, Lady, behind the Delaware SPCA in 1973. Ligon, who lived and worked in the half-octagonal old town library on East Third Street in New Castle, died in 1980 due to complications from a car accident, according to New Castle Historical Society records.

Paul Flannigan of New Castle recalled how his parents, John and Lillian, scattered Ligon's ashes in the Delaware SPCA pet cemetery to comply with her final wishes. Because Ligon had no family and children, her friends, the Flannigans, were given Power of Attorney for her estate, Flannigan said.

"Her dog, Lady — that was her life," he said. "That's the only thing she had."

"It's even more horrifying for people to deny out of convenience and out of finances that this never happened,” Flannigan said of the Delaware SPCA's initial response. "I know for a fact that’s where Ms. Ligon is.”

Pet cemeteries are not regulated by federal or state governments because animal remains are considered "solid waste" under Delaware law. But human cemeteries fall under the state's authority.

While the question of human remains in the cemetery can finally be laid to rest, the 143-year-old animal welfare organization is still trying to repair its reputation following an onslaught of public criticism. Attorney General Matt Denn's office is reviewing resident complaints on the matter, an office spokeswoman said Tuesday.

In May, the Delaware SPCA announced on Facebook that it would shutter the Stanton shelter to preserve its financial stability. At the time, the organization was trying to market the nearly 21-acre property for $9.8 million. Proceeds from the sale were expected to benefit the organization's smaller Georgetown shelter, the only animal shelter in Sussex County.

Since that time, more than 2,000 people have signed a Change.org petition trying to halt the sale.

Bewildered owners of some of the 1,600 animals buried behind the shelter said they were told on the Delaware SPCA's Facebook page and by front office personnel that they could dig up the remains themselves.

After The News Journal chronicled the chaos at the burial ground, including state police officers digging unsuccessfully for the remains of one of the nation's first state police dogs, Delaware SPCA leaders took a step back. Last month, they announced in a Facebook post that the organization had no "immediate plans to 'shut down'" the pet cemetery.

Pet owners who choose to retrieve headstones and pet remains were advised to contact frontdesk@delspca.org to set up an appointment.

"We will help everyone as much as possible to locate and retrieve stones and/or remains," the post said. "We emphasize, however, that removal is not necessary at this time because a buyer for the land has not yet been identified."

If removal is necessary, owners will be notified by mail, on Facebook or by calling the organization's phone line, and be given "reasonable time" to make arrangements, the post said.

Contact Margie Fishman at (302) 324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.