A Mantua man has a special reason to want to visit his late cat’s grave.
He and Yetty have a common bond — both were missing two legs.
Frank Iannaggi is suing to gain access to Yetty’s grave, which he says is impossible because of landscape barriers erected on property that was formerly part of a pet cemetery in Hudson. Iannaggi, who uses a wheelchair, said he can’t get around the barriers to reach Yetty’s final resting place, which he likes to do at least twice a month.
“She was just a special animal,” said Iannaggi, 58, who lost his legs because of a vascular disease.
Iannaggi recently filed a discrimination lawsuit in Summit County Common Pleas Court against John and Patricia Roman, the owners of property that previously was part of the adjacent pet cemetery on Walters Road that is operated by the Friends of Pet Cemetery Association (FOPCA).
The Romans already are locked in a civil suit against the cemetery association that seeks to shut down the pet cemetery because of alleged health and safety code violations — including claims that human remains have been buried on the property. FOPCA denies the allegations and accuses the Romans of barring cemetery representatives from the couple’s property to maintain the graves on it. The lawsuit, filed in 2015, is scheduled to go to trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court in late June.
Iannaggi isn’t involved with the 2015 litigation, although he is an FOPCA board member and supporter. Besides Yetty, he has five dogs buried at the cemetery, which dates back to 1945 and is home to the remains of 14,000 animals.
Iannaggi and his family operated G & C Bakery on state Route 82 in Mantua until his vascular disease became progressively worse, costing him one leg in 2013 and the other in 2014.
Yetty came into Iannaggi’s life when his daughters found three kittens abandoned in the woods behind the family’s home. All of the kittens died except Yetty, who was born with only her front legs. The cat, though, was easily able to get around, including going up and down stairs.
“The kids brought her back to life,” Iannaggi said. “It was a miracle thing for them.”
Iannaggi said Yetty was ornery and “wasn’t afraid to fight,” although she weighed only about 4 pounds. The cat died in May 2011. Iannaggi still had his legs at this point, but his vascular disease was making it difficult for him to walk and he needed a wheelchair to get around.
Knowing about Iannaggi’s connection to Yetty and his financial and medical challenges, FOPCA gave Iannaggi a grave for only $1 and buried the cat in a spot near the cemetery’s gravel driveway, making it easy for him to access in his wheelchair or see from his car.
“All Frank had to do was drive up and he could see right where his kitten’s plot was buried,” said Vivian Kloak, FOPCA’s vice president and secretary. “He didn’t have to get out of the vehicle, didn’t have to get his wheelchair out.”
Iannaggi was able to visit Yetty’s grave until July 2016. The Romans, who had bought part of the cemetery property that includes Yetty’s burial site, had added large mounds of earth, mulch and plants that he said blocked his access to the grave from the parking lot.
Iannaggi said the Romans told him he should tell them in advance when he would be coming and they would have someone remove the landscape barriers and put the barriers back after he left. He thought this was unreasonable.
“We want him [Roman] to remove the barriers and let us come and go as we please,” Iannaggi said.
Iannaggi’s lawsuit says the Romans have “intentionally discriminated” against him because of his disability by not providing him access to his cat’s grave. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees.
Carl Patrick, the attorney for the Romans, who bought the cemetery property in 2014, declined comment, as did the Romans.
Kloak said she feels bad for Iannaggi because she thinks he’s gotten caught in the middle of the ongoing cemetery battle.
“He’s the innocent bystander and he’s getting hurt in all of this,” she said. “To Frank, this cat was an inspiration. He can’t even go and mourn the death of [the cat] properly because he’s being kept away. I just think that’s wrong.”
Iannaggi is a big believer in the importance of the cemetery, where he has buried his pets since 1998. He has two other plots, including one for his German shepherd, Apollo, who is now only 2.
“It’s a place to be buried with respect and not forgotten,” he said.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .