This week we've brought you a heartwarming tale of a couple who wove sweaters from the hair of their deceased hounds and the touching story of a giant squid who overcame incredible odds to achieve its dream of becoming plastinated and dangled above French people.
Well, thanks to one of our most loyal readers, the elusive "milkshake", we have uncovered a scoop that could be seen as the missing link between the aforementioned posts. Behold Pet Preservation a pet taxidermy service that will help you immortalize your pet through the miracles of modern science.
Direct from Pet Pres: "Some people simply do not believe in the process of cremation. There is an alternative. Pet preservation, also known as freeze drying, is the comforting alternative to your pet's burial or cremation." FREEZE DRYING!!!
Because (according to their website) "only a true friend can leave pawprints in your heart," you may want to consider freeze drying your pet once it has passed. The website also points out that "burial" may not be "an option" because of "local regulations" or a lack of accessible pet cemeteries, so you may just want to stuff your pet for convenience's sake.
Here's a picture of freeze dried Gunny, short for "Gunnery Seargant," a six and three quarter inch long, asthmatic, gimp-legged, chihuahua who lived in a clothes hamper and "had the heart of a grizzly bear," according to its owner.
More incredible pictures below the fold...
And what the hell? Why not stuff your pet raccoon, Suggie...that's not creepy to have around.
One of the best parts of the site is the perplexed/horrified reactions of the other house pets when they see their buddies immortalized for the first time. Like Symba here, trying to figure out what's wrong with her old friend, Snuffy.
Hahahaha, Symba is totally traumatized for life...HILARIOUS!
Caution, this may bring a tear to your eye, a cockateil, serenading its departed love.
For more information on pet preservation freeze dry taxidermy, call 602-230-4268
Technology
Comments
The reason I remember this technique for animal preservation is that some tome ago I saw pictures of a rat that was freeze-dried then re-soaked with oil - which made it transluscent in a delightfully opalescent way and with a strong light source you could observe the internals.
I will have to disappoint all potential enthusiasts practising recreational taxidermy at home - even though the lyophilizers could be purchased from Labconco and Virtis companies (and they are quite easy to operate - you just protect the pump by making sure the condenser is cooled down, nothing leaks and the pump oil is changed on regurar basis) the freeze-drying equipment with a reasonably-sized chamber that could barely accomodate a dashund would cost over $20k.
Posted by: milkshake | March 29, 2008 4:02 PM
Personally, I plan on turning my deceased cats into tiny felted fur rugs, like this.
Posted by: Miriam | March 30, 2008 12:44 PM
Cockateil owners UNITE! This is an outrage! Think of the trauma visited up on poor, lonesome feather-butt singing his teeny little birdie heart out, completely for naught. The cost to the owners for therapy alone will be staggering. Well, I suppose they deserve it in some sort of twisted way. I shudder in complete and utter horror at the inhumanity of it all. (And don't remind me that they are not human!)
(Bentley! You still could be in the duck pen had I known, striking a pose with your neck finally straightened.)
Pat
PS. So, instead of having myself cremated, I could......visit horror upon my family members for years to come. Hope I get to select the pose and the outfit.
The comments are really too many to list.
Posted by: Pat K. | March 31, 2008 6:08 PM
unless you are furry all over I could not recommend freeze drying because you would end up all wrinkled and scary. I would rather encourage you to try wet embalming, trying the recipe they used on Vladimir Illich Lenin. You mix copious quantities of glycerol and water and saturate the liquid with potassium acetate. This briny liquid is ideal for pickling organs and even whole specimens - such as a revolutionary sporting a goatee and syphilis - and keeping them in their natural color, but the important part is to use non-metalic tank because traces of metal can cause discoloration and accelerate the breakdown. So dont do it in your bathtub if you have an old enamel-coated and slightly scratched one like I do because rust is the mummys enemy.
There is even older method using mecuric chloride - which managed to preserve a wet mummy in perfect shape for millenia (they dug one out in China recently) but mercury sublimate is exceptionally poisonous and hard to obtain so I suggest the above soviet alternative.
Posted by: milkshake | March 31, 2008 7:41 PM
Nice to meet you.
I had a look at blog.
Please link to this site.
http://www.geocities.jp/asi_kili/
Posted by: bal | April 1, 2008 5:07 AM
This one's been around for years. The thing is, why would I want to turn my dead pet into a knicknack?
Posted by: David Harmon | April 3, 2008 9:28 PM
Freeze Drying? There are many superior alternatives... you could turn them into an attractive pillow... or a comfy sweater!
http://blog.stickyrice.net/archives/2008/take-me-along-ii/
Posted by: missbossy | April 6, 2008 11:11 PM