Freeze-drying your pets: creepy, kooky, or cool?

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Interesting article in the New York Times about the family of taxidermists in the new Animal Planet show "American Stuffers". The focus of the article is their business of freeze-dry taxidermy of peoples' pets. This strikes me as supremely creepy, but obviously some people find comfort in it.

The article includes a photo of a departed Pomeranian now on permanent display. There is also a video clip of the main taxidermist showing the newly restored pet raccoon "Chatters" to her owner.

Has anybody watched this show? I don't get Animal Planet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/g...-freeze-dried-pets.html?ref=realitytelevision
 
It is not something that I would want done to any of my pets but I don't have a problem with other people doing it. The bloke who does it is obviously very good at what he does as well. The Pomeranian looks fantastic.
 
You think a Pomeranian is odd..(from Wikipedia on Jeremy Bentham, the English philosopher (1748-1832)

Bentham's Auto-icon

As requested in his will, Bentham's body was dissected as part of a public anatomy lecture. Afterward, the skeleton and head were preserved and stored in a wooden cabinet called the "Auto-icon", with the skeleton stuffed out with hay and dressed in Bentham's clothes. Originally kept by his disciple Thomas Southwood Smith,[31] it was acquired by University College London in 1850. It is normally kept on public display at the end of the South Cloisters in the main building of the college, but for the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the college, it was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where it was listed as "present but not voting".[32]

Bentham had intended the Auto-icon to incorporate his actual head, mummified to resemble its appearance in life. However, Southwood Smith's experimental efforts at mummification, although technically successful, left the head looking distastefully macabre, with dried and darkened skin stretched tautly over the skull. The Auto-icon was therefore given a wax head, fitted with some of Bentham's own hair. The real head was displayed in the same case as the Auto-icon for many years, but became the target of repeated student pranks. It is now locked away securely.[33]
Click to expand...
 
I read an article a while ago that related to human funerals and one of the new trends was for the body to be freeze dried, then shaken violently. It then turns to dust and can be scattered like ashes are. -I hope it wasn't an April fool trick as it sounded a good Idea.-

I wonder if the guy freeze drying the pets tells them not to drop them or knock them about , imagine gluing a leg back on to a persian cat! it would be a nightmare trying to keep the glue of the fur:eek:
 
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