WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Pet owners are speaking out about a lawsuit to save their animal’s graves. This comes after a developer sent them a letter in the mail, giving them 90 days notice to remove their pets.

Since Joe Walsh and his wife got married, they’ve had dogs.

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“We don’t have children,” Walsh said. “We have Springer Spaniels.”

When their first child died in the 90s, Walsh said they didn’t want to cremate him. They also didn’t have a backyard, so they found Walden Pond Pet Cemetery.

“It was a good alternative and a beautiful place,” Walsh said.

It’s now a resting place for six of their Springer Spaniels, but that’s not all.

“I have two graves reserved for these two,” Walsh said.

Eight expensive resting spots that could soon be gone. In April, Walsh received a letter from a developer.

“Who said he had bought it and he was going to develop it,” Walsh said.

The developer, Ricky Coates, gave Walsh and dozens of other owners 90 days to come dig up their pets.

“We were kind of shocked and offended,” Walsh said. “We thought that the place was going to be kind of a perpetual cemetery for animals.”

Walsh said in his contract, that’s what the original owners had intended and that’s why many of the pet owners filed a lawsuit.

“Like everybody else who is involved I just want it to be a pet cemetery like it was,” Walsh said. “It was real nice.”

Their attorney said a judge issued a restraining order on the property owner, pending a hearing scheduled for next Friday at 9:30 a.m.

For Walsh, it’s a pending decision to save a beautiful resting place.

Calls to the developer have not been returned.