Pet owners who want to take their animals with them into the grave at the Orem City Cemetery, can now do so -- with conditions.

The Orem City Council gave its approval Tuesday for amendments to city laws governing the cemetery. The impetus for the review that led to the changes was the need to add guidelines on disinterments which are increasingly requested by the public, according to a staff report.

Steve Weber, division manager with the city public works department, told the council that his family owned a beloved golden retriever that was cremated, and the remains kept in a box. His wife wants the remains buried with her when the time comes, he said.

"I'm not saying we're going to have a horse," Weber said, to mild laughter from audience members at the meeting, "but a dog, a cat, a ferret ... If people want to go to the expense, or a family has a closeness to a pet that they have had for years and years, and years -- it's a service to families."

"There are people who just look at a pet as a member of the family," said Mayor Jerry Washburn.

Substantive changes to the city code included the addition of a section on disinterments that, in the case of contagious disease, are prohibited within the first two years of interment because of the possibility that pathogens can survive the embalming process, said Mike Barker, the assistant city attorney who worked on the ordinance.

An applicant for a disinterment must give the city seven days advanced notice, obtain a permit from the Board of Health, arrange to have a funeral director present, and enlist the services of a vault company.

Before a disinterment can be done, the applicant must also sign a waiver of the city's liability because the process can be "ugly and gruesome," Barker said. The city will not be held liable for any damage to the vault or casket.

Under the new law, the city is responsible to supervise the excavation, to preserve the integrity of adjacent lots, and to safeguard the health of employees.