Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21 in Allegheny County
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that Patrick Vereb Sr., owner of western Pennsylvania-based Eternity Pet Memorial, pleaded guilty to all charges regarding theft of more than $650,000 from customers who paid for pet burial and cremation services between 2021 and 2024.
Vereb, 72, pleaded guilty to all charges, and will be sentenced on the lead felony — first-degree theft by deception — on Jan. 21, following a sentencing hearing.
Also Thursday, Vereb’s bail was revoked and he was committed to prison.
Vereb was charged last year with improper disposal of thousands of dogs and cats for which owners paid for cremations, burials, returns of ashes, and other services. According to the Office of Attorney General investigation, Vereb took money in exchange for private cremation services, then disposed of many of the pets at a landfill and provided customers with ashes of other, unknown animals.
More than 6,500 victims from Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington, and Westmoreland counties were identified.
“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,” Attorney General Sunday. “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.”
Due to the widespread impact, and duration of the criminal conduct, following the filing of charges, the Office of Attorney General launched a webpage to identify and make contact with as many victims as possible.
Many of those victims submitted victim impact statements which will be submitted to the court for consideration at sentencing.
Nearly a dozen veterinary practices and businesses worked with the Office of Attorney General to confirm that Vereb collected more than $650,000 in fees from pet owners who were promised a private cremation for their pet, but did not receive the actual ashes of their pet.
Eternity Pet Memorial received the pets directly from consumers or through area veterinarians.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorneys General Kara Rice and Aaron McKendry.
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