Time, flooding buried pet cemetery near Modesto. Now two are working to restore it

They’re here, hidden underneath overgrowth and dirt. Cuddles and Fonzie. Toy Boy, who died in 1988. And even “Peaches the Lovable Lovebird,” who passed away in 1992.

They are the gravestones of pets, many long dead and somewhat lost in the site of the former Pet Rest Cemetery at Carpenter and Hatch roads south of Modesto.

Kimberly Winchester and Erin Ledesma have been spending the last several days working to restore the former Pet Rest, maybe not to its original state but to make it easier for families to visit their pets who are buried there.

They have been working during many daylight hours on their own time.

“You just have to have a heart for animals,” said Ledesma.

Winchester grew up in the area and has a couple of dogs buried there. “The neighborhood kids would come down here and pull weeds,” she said. “That was when I was 7 years old, and I’m 46 now.”

She pointed out the holes in many of the gravestones. “They were made to be the size of coffee or soup cans so people could use those for flowers.”

Time and floodwaters from the nearby Tuolumne River helped bury many of the gravestones, as well as mementos the two women have been uncovering: a plastic Snoopy for a dog of the same name, a ceramic owl, a plaque with a poem on it.

Many of the gravestones uncovered are in good shape, the engraving on them clearly legible. A few are blank. “They had copper plaques on them that got stolen,” Winchester said.

Several families have a number of pets at the cemetery, which dates back to the 1940s. Pets were buried there into the early 2000s.

It’s not clear what will happen to the property long-term. County officials said the site appears to be private property. The apparent owner could not be reached for comment.

In the meantime, Winchester and Ledesma hope to have the site suitable for visits by Christmas, complete with battery-operated lights in a tree along the Carpenter Road side. They said they have gotten support from people who have donated equipment, as well as passersby.

“We’ve had a lot of people stopping and looking,” Ledesma said.

She and Winchester would like to see the cemetery put back into use, with a new sign and fencing up.

Though the pets have been long gone, they aren’t forgotten.

“I like my dogs better than most people,” Ledesma said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Time, flooding buried pet cemetery near Modesto. Now two are working to restore it."