Golden Retriever
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
November 12, 2022 ·  4 min read

Fur parent turns dead pet dog into pelt to keep him forever

Losing a pet is a difficult situation to go through. After all, our pets are a huge part of our families and our lives. When one leaves us, it can often leave our home feeling rather quiet and empty, as if something is missing. To fill that hole in their heart, some people turn to pet taxidermy. This pet owner did just that, turning his beloved golden retriever into a pelt so that he “could have his pet in his life forever”. Is that heartwarming, or is it weird? You can be the judge.

Pet Owner Uses Pet Taxidermy to Turn his Dead Dog into a Pelt for his Home

There is a company in Australia called Chimera Taxidermy that specializes in pet taxidermy. In their Instagram bio, they say that they do pet taxidermy, soft mount taxidermy, skulls, pelts, and oddities. Odd might be the perfect way to describe it. One of their most recently completed projects is a pelt for a family home – made out of their dead golden retriever. They captioned the post on Instagram with this: “Beautiful old golden retriever preserved as a pelt for his family. Finally ready to head home.” Apparently the item has been tanned and turned into leather. This will ensure that the fur doesn’t fall out. (1)

As one can imagine, it has met with mixed reviews online. Some people commented that it was a lovely idea, while others were a little less sure. Many said that perhaps pet taxidermy is a good idea for some, but for themselves, it wasn’t something that they would ever be interested in. One woman said she couldn’t do it because seeing her pet every day without it actually being there or alive would be harder for her. Of course, there are those who just downright think it’s weird.

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A post shared by @chimerataxidermy

Pet Taxidermy Becoming More Popular

According to Maddy, the owner of Chimera Taxidermy, pet taxidermy has begun to increase in popularity over the last five years or so, at least in Australia. She recognizes that it is a very new thing for people and so for many it might take some time to get used to the idea. Maddy also says that she realizes that while some may find comfort in it, it just won’t be that way for others, and that’s okay.

“Some are more of a sentimental keepsake, others are on display resting in their beds or however their owners wanted them preserved,” she explained. “Most of the requests I get are for full taxidermy mounts. Pelt preservation is less commonly asked for, but I still do quite a few pelts.” (2)

Read: Dog Owners Need to Watch Out: Dog Dies After Eating Brownies Made With Xylitol

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A post shared by @chimerataxidermy

What To Do With A Dead Pet

When someone we love dies, we have very well-established traditions that we follow. Though these traditions and what is done with the body vary between cultures, families, and individual desires, there are generally a set few options of what happens to the deceased person’s body. With pets, however, these “rules” or traditions are much less established. This is why some have moved to pet taxidermy, as a way to cherish and mourn the passing of their pet. What’s interesting is that when we see a mounted stag’s head on a wall or a taxidermied bear in a natural history museum, we don’t think much of it. For some reason, however, when it is a pet, many people find it completely absurd.

Figuring out what to do with your pet’s remains after it dies is a difficult thing to do. After all, you are mourning their loss, but there is no outline for what you are supposed to do about it. With humans, there is a process: The visitation, the funeral, and the burial, cremation, or other.

Many of the decisions about what is done with a body are made by that person before they even die – you just follow the blueprint that they laid out with you. For a pet, what do you do? Do you bury it in the backyard? Perhaps, but then what happens if you move away? Perhaps you have the pet cremated.

Then what’s next – do you keep the ashes, or distribute them somewhere? The truth is, there is no right or wrong answer. It is whatever feels right for you. For some people, that is pet taxidermy.

For others, it’s scattering their pet’s ashes along the route of one of their favorite walks. And still, for many more, it’s holding a small ceremony in the backyard and burning their pet with a little memorial as a way to honor that animal’s life and the joy that it brought to them. Whatever you choose when the time comes for your pet, I hope that it brings you comfort and helps to ease the pain of their loss.

Keep Reaidng: Law Allows Pets To Be Buried Alongside Their Humans At Cemeteries

Sources

  1. .”chimerataxidermy.” Instagram
  2. Aussie family turns pet dog into ornamental rug: ‘Not for me’.” Yahoo. Carly Bass. October 31, 2022.