OKC Pet Cemetery To Be Cleared For New Highway Construction

A decades old pet cemetery sits in the way of what's going to be a major expansion of the I-240 and I-35 interchange.

The cemetery sits at the southwest corner of the two interstates in South Oklahoma City.

Right now, ODOT is purchasing right away and relocating utilities, and reaching out to what could be more than a thousand pet owners.

News 9 was told ODOT has known about the pet cemetery for years. In fact, there are head stones that date back to the early 1950's! Some of the earliest headstones are from the 1970’s.

There's a major problem for some though. It's a field of memories they don't believe should be touched, and it's something Twila Winkleman thought no longer existed.

7/24/15 Related Story: Owners Asked To Retrieve Headstones At OKC Pet Cemetery Due To Construction

“I thought it was built on. I didn’t know exactly where it was located. I knew it was on this access road, but I thought the car lots had built on it,” said Winkleman.  

For more than 40 years, a beloved family horse has been buried in the cemetery. She says she couldn't have been any older than 10-years-old at the time.

“We bought the land to bury the horse, and I just don’t feel it’s right that they did this to us,” said Winkleman.

The cemetery is close to hearts of Twila and her family. 

“My sister is not with us anymore, it was her horse, my parents are gone. My parents took the time to buy the lot, bury the horse over here, and they just sold it. I mean, that’s not right,” said Winkleman.  

“From one animal lover to another, I think we ought to show some respect for some people who spent some money at some time to bury an animal,” said ODOT construction engineer, Joe Echelle.  

Echelle personally put an ad on Craigslist.

“It was the right time to try to get the word out to somebody about coming and maybe gathering their family’s pet,” said Echelle.

“Now I’m out here hunting in the dirt and the grass in 100 degree weather so I can find his headstone so I’ll have that,” said Winkleman.  

Heavy construction is set to begin in the Fall of 2016, so there's still time to retrieve headstones. 

ODOT told News 9, there's no federal or state law that protects a pet cemetery from being used for expansion.