Family turns its dead golden retriever into a pelt rug
What's the story
A family took 'preserving' the memories of their pet quite literally!
When a pet passes away, their hooman parents usually keep something dear to them as a fond memory.
However, lost in the grief of their golden retriever, a family in Australia turned their deceased pet into a rug in order to stay connected with the pooch.
Bizarre or adorable? Read on.
Fur rug
The family hired a popular taxidermy company in Melbourne
The pet parents of this late golden retriever hired a Melbourne-based company named Chimera Taxidermy to create a memorable keepsake of their doggo.
Their once-alive furball is now literally a fur rug, which they have kept inside their house to build a sensory connection!
The image of the pelt was shared on Instagram, garnering mixed reactions from netizens.
Then-pet now pelt
Maddy, the owner of Chimera, shared the reel on Instagram
Maddy, who spearheads Chimera Taxidermy, took to Instagram to share a reel featuring the then-pet, now pelt.
"Beautiful old golden retriever preserved as a pelt for his family. Finally ready to head home," was the caption of this reel that garnered 365 likes, 27.1 K views, and loads of comments.
While some found it "super cute," others stated, "it's not for everyone."
Twitter Post
Check out the video below
Instagram/ chimerataxidermy pic.twitter.com/v1hdB8Xwsl
— @repostpets (@repostpets) November 1, 2022
Well-preserved
"The pelt has been tanned and turned to leather"
"The pelt has been tanned and turned to leather so the fur won't fall out," said Maddy in the comments section of the viral reel, stating that the rug will stay in a good condition for years.
Additionally, she also shared that preserving pets as pelts "is not as common as people wanting full taxidermy mounts."
The 29-year-old has also made ceramic skulls before.
Not for everyone
"We can do the pet rugs without pet's heads"
Further into the comments on the reel, Maddy wrote, "Most of the pet's taxidermies are sleeping. But we can do the pet rugs without the pet's head".
She also added, "Some are more of a sentimental keepsake, others are on display resting in their beds or however their owners wanted them preserved."
The taxidermist also agrees that pet taxidermy is "definitely not for everyone."
Real skin on fake body
What exactly is taxidermy? Let's understand this concept of preservation
Taxidermy is the process of stuffing and/or mounting a deceased animal for display.
It involves using the animal's real skin over a fake body to make it look as though it is alive.
It is a way of preserving the animal's body and is quite common as installations in museums and labs around the world.
The culture is also growing rapidly among pet parents.