When former President Václav Havel's schnauzer died some five years ago, he brought his prized pooch to this pet cemetery. Here too lies Betina, the dearly departed basset hound of Jiří Paroubek, former prime minister and Social Democratic Party chairman, along with the pets of 13 diplomats from around the world.

In total, there are nearly 2,000 graves holding dogs, cats, birds, fish, a rat, a snake and a chinchilla.

"There is a lot of love here," says cemetery owner Pavel Lukáš, who founded the site in 1998.

But now, a convoluted legal battle is threatening the future of this unique burial ground. In a twisted sequence of events, the land the cemetery operates was given away in a restitution claim in 2005. Lukáš didn't find out until last year, when he applied to expand the cemetery, which is at capacity.

The Prague 8 district court ruled against Lukáš Jan. 12. Lukáš pledges to continue his fight, but, in the meantime, the future of the cemetery is in limbo, caught in the slow-grinding cogs of Czech bureaucracy.

Admitted mistakes

Originally, Lukáš rented the property from the Land Fund (PF), a state-controlled agency that deals with nationalized property that was never reclaimed.

The PF rents out plots of land to tenants like Lukáš, and, if a restitution claim later surfaces, the PF is supposed to allocate an alternate plot for the claimant instead.

The decision made in Lukáš's case was a mistake, PF spokeswoman Kornelie Šichorová admits.

"[It] was enabled by a problematic or questionable decision of the presiding committee at the time, which has since been removed," she says.

The decisions made by that committee during a three-week period in June 2005 were "subsequently found unethical," she says. However, the rulings couldn't be reversed and the PF was forced to file legal challenges — in essence, suing itself.

Now that the Prague 8 district court has dismissed the cemetery claim, the PF may appeal again, Šichorová says.

"[We are] waiting for the delivery of the court's decision and will then decide on further action."

They are also arranging to negotiate directly with the restitution claimant.

The convoluted legal process has been "exhausting," Lukáš says. "I feel much aged."

'Ahead of its time'

Lukáš is not at home in the courtroom but rather here, among small, lovingly decorated pet graves. The place is strewn with flowers, photos and candles and also a wide assortment of chew toys, bags of cookies, pillows stuffed with catnip and well-worn leashes and collars.

His own prize-winning poodles — Adélka, Florence and Eliška — are buried here, but Lukáš takes a personal interest in every grave.

He fondly describes the American couple who diligently replaces the Stars and Stripes on their dog's grave and the Canadian woman who planted a maple tree in her dog's memory so he could provide her with maple syrup. Lukáš also stands firm on a promise to keep the location of Havel's dog a secret.

But animals aren't his only passion.

Although there are a few pet cemeteries scattered across the Czech Republic, Lukáš says his is a "project ahead of its time," the only one in the country, and possibly the world, that is also part botanical garden.

He charges clients between 3,500 ($162) and 5,000 Kč, depending on weight, to bury their pets. Included in the cost is a plant of the client's choosing, which is planted above the grave.

The practice is not only a beautiful way to commemorate a pet, he says, it's also ecologically sound.

After eight years, the site is now teeming with rare plants, some of which Lukáš drove thousands of kilometers to procure. In 2005, an independent assessment valued the plants at 12 million Kč. He's spent so much money that the cemetery never turns a profit.

Walking among the closely set graves, he pauses to point out some of his most prized trees: Chinese sequoia, Spanish cork, Japanese sakura, Canadian maple and several magnolia trees.

"The soil is not very good, but all the trees are growing nicely ... because of all the love here," he says.

But, now, he fears for the future of the entire project.

He attempted to negotiate with the woman claiming the land, Vlasta Brůnová, but he says she refuses to speak to him. Under European Union law, Lukáš says, she would be barred from doing any digging or construction for 10 years in order to allow time for decomposition in the graves.

However, that thought provides little consolation.

"I've sunk years into the project," he says. "What kind of person would ask for a plot where blind people have their [guide] dogs buried?"

Naďa Černá contributed to this report.