The grass is cut at Doc White’s Pet Cemetery, and the trash is cleaned up.

“You’re still putting lipstick on a pig,” said Larry Burklund, who took time and equipment from his World of Green lawn care business Tuesday to clean the field.

Grave markers still are sunken below ground level and the weeds will grow back quickly, he said, but the pet cemetery near Oak Lake is on its way to being the modest, pleasant place it was 10 years ago.

The cemetery fell into a state of neglect after veterinarian Robert White sold the part of the cemetery he owned about six years ago. White had been burying animals there for decades, and made sure to keep the place maintained.

Burklund was one of a number of people who volunteered to help clean the cemetery after a story about it appeared in Saturday’s Journal Star.

He said his affection for his own animals led him to take a personal interest in the issue.

“I don’t have kids, so those are my babies,” he said.

Burklund said he filled two 55-gallon bags with trash. He and some of his employees mowed and trimmed Tuesday, and he plans to spray for weeds next week.

Paul Zillig, assistant manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources district, had to approve the cleanup, because the NRD owns the land.

“I guess we’re very appreciative that World of Green volunteered to go out and mow it,” Zillig said. “That gives us kind of a short-term fix to what needs to be done out there.

“There’s a lot of people that have an interest in it.”

Richard Sullivan, who brought the complaint to the Journal Star’s attention, has volunteered to organize a group of people who will make sure the land stays clean.

“I’m astounded that it happened so rapidly,” he said. “What a great guy.”

Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7395 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com.