Man Sentenced After Returning False Ashes To Pet Owners

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Rodney Ward, a 55-year-old man from Baltimore, was sentenced to decades in prison after he gave grieving pet owners fake ashes.

Court records show Ward was given a 20-year prison sentence in addition to being ordered to pay over $12,000 in restitution.

Ward was the owner of the Loving Care Pet Funeral and Cremation Service, which operated for nearly a year out of an address listed in Catonsville.

An investigation into the business revealed Ward took in cremation requests from pet owners and returned boxes of supposed remains that turned out to be a mix of construction materials.

Ward was initially arrested in August after the remains of pets he claimed to have cremated were found along roadways or wooded areas. Charging documents viewed by WMAR detailed decaying remains for over 30 pets were found at Ward's home and inside a hearse.

Dozens of pet owners provided impact statements at the sentencing on Tuesday. CBS Baltimore reported 15 individuals gave verbal statements, and 40 others submitted written remarks.

One of the impacted pet owners was Sharon Thomas, who contracted Ward's business to handle the remains of her 17-year-old service dog Blackie Dior.

"He quoted scripture; he did all of this to make me feel comfortable," she said. "I would never think that he would be so demonic."

Both Ward and his wife, Yalanda, were charged in the scheme, facing multiple counts of theft and malicious destruction of property.

Ward previously told The Washington Post that while he normally conducted the cremations, he subcontracted the work to another company at the start of the year. He did not name that business.

Some families have not been able to track down the remains of their pets.

Filings show that Yalanda's trial is scheduled for May 6.