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Fla Dem

(23,347 posts)
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 11:26 AM Nov 2019

People are freeze drying their pets after they die: 'They don't want to let go'

People are freeze drying their pets after they die: 'They don't want to let go'
Rachel Grumman Bender 1 day ago

Forget taxidermy. Some grieving pet owners are freeze-drying their pets after they die to — literally — preserve the memory of their beloved furry family members.

Grieving pet owners are freeze-drying their pets to keep their memories alive. While it might sound unusual — to put it mildly — to freeze-dry a pet, the process isn’t as rare as it seems. Search for “freeze-dried pets” online and a handful of businesses across the country pop up offering the preservation service.

© Provided by Oath Inc. A posed freeze-dried dog by Freeze Dry By Cathy. (Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Huntley)

For freeze-dry artist Andrea Huntley of Freeze Dry By Cathy, it’s actually a business she never meant to get into. Her mother, Cathy, was a successful wedding florist in Newaygo, Michigan, who started freeze-drying flowers in the ‘90s to preserve bouquets. “She was such a trailblazer that she decided to self-learn the taxidermy trade, and soon she was using her single freeze dry machine to do work for other taxidermists, mainly turkey heads,” Huntley tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

The request to freeze-dry pets started in 2007. “It was something she wasn’t really fond of doing,” admits Huntley, referring to her mother, “and at the time I wasn’t even in the business.” But when her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (Cathy passed away in 2018 at age 60), Huntley took over the business, which she says was “a sink or swim moment for me.”

Huntley, who also does taxidermy work for museums, nature centers and universities, has now been running the business for eight years. She purchased three more freeze-dry machines and says her electric bill is sometimes more than $700 a month, but Huntley says she finds the job “rewarding.”


© Provided by Oath Inc. A freeze-dried cat by Freeze Dry By Cathy. (Photo: Courtesy of Andrea Huntley)

Her clients come from all walks of life, but the one thing they have in common is that they love their pets. That doesn’t mean some clients don’t question how this all looks. “A lot of my clients worry about what others will think,” says Huntley, who studied psychology in college. “Some ask me if I think it is weird. I’ve had to claw my way to this miraculous point in my life where I truly don’t care what others may think of me or what I do. And I advise my clients to try to live the same way.”

More>>>>

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/people-are-freeze-drying-their-pets-after-they-die-they-dont-want-to-let-go/ar-BBWPqWy?li=BBnb4R7


I don't know...kind of gives me a shiver, but would love to have my girl with me forever. Also pretty expensive. $700 for the first 5 pounds. Each additional pound is $75. So my girl would cost me $1300.
What do you think?

BTW, cat photo looks just like my girl.

Cross post in "DU Lounge"
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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People are freeze drying their pets after they die: 'They don't want to let go' (Original Post) Fla Dem Nov 2019 OP
$1,300 could save a lot of shelter animals. Cattledog Nov 2019 #1
Exactly. What a more meaninful memorial to those lost... hlthe2b Nov 2019 #3
Totally agree. Fla Dem Nov 2019 #6
This. Thank you. TygrBright Nov 2019 #14
Geez. Would they freeze dry their human family members? hlthe2b Nov 2019 #2
So if you add hot water and stir, you get your pet back? Like Taster's Choice? klook Nov 2019 #4
I suppose if that's what someone wants, FoxNewsSucks Nov 2019 #5
Up to nine months or longer in the freeze-dryer? No thank you! I'd rather bury my dog under a secondwind Nov 2019 #7
This is totally ghoulish, IMO. 3catwoman3 Nov 2019 #8
Yes, completely agree. Seems a desecration of the spirit of the pet. Fla Dem Nov 2019 #10
That would be a a constant heartbreak for me get the red out Nov 2019 #9
Different people cope differently I guess Hav Nov 2019 #13
Gadzooks! Bayard Nov 2019 #11
Actually this is pretty interesting Jake Stern Nov 2019 #12

TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
14. This. Thank you.
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 06:58 PM
Nov 2019

And I believe that the souls who come to us to be animal companions would resonate to the idea that what you learned from them led you to save more critters, rather than hanging on to a static representation of their presence...

Learning to deal with love and loss is one of their great lessons for us.

sadly,
Bright

hlthe2b

(101,714 posts)
2. Geez. Would they freeze dry their human family members?
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 11:35 AM
Nov 2019

I understand the grief and I fully empathize. Even decades later, I mourn for those I've lost--both human and pets. But, I'm not sure this is the direction we want to go. What happens once the owner passes? Their Pet's freeze-dried beloved statue is summarily tossed in the trash?

The life-like features are amazing though. I will say that.

FoxNewsSucks

(10,375 posts)
5. I suppose if that's what someone wants,
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 11:44 AM
Nov 2019

it's their own business. Seems to me that it would get kinda odd after a while, and disrespectful to the animal to have it on display in your house like that.

I just got back from a week vacation Friday afternoon, and found my 17 year old black cat had died the night before I got home. He really kept me company, following me around at home all the time. I'll miss him very much, but I don't think having him sitting on a shelf would help.

And the cost is something else. As mentioned, it would be almost $1300 for my cat. My border collie would cost $5000. I really think if someone has that kind of money, it would be much better spent donating to no-kill shelters and adopting more animals when you're ready.

secondwind

(16,903 posts)
7. Up to nine months or longer in the freeze-dryer? No thank you! I'd rather bury my dog under a
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 11:55 AM
Nov 2019

rose bush in the back yard!

3catwoman3

(23,812 posts)
8. This is totally ghoulish, IMO.
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 12:15 PM
Nov 2019

I think I would feel worse to see the body looking so alive but knowing it wasn’t ever going to move again, or feel warm and snuggly.

No thanks.

get the red out

(13,459 posts)
9. That would be a a constant heartbreak for me
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 12:37 PM
Nov 2019

I can’t imagine it, personally. It may help some people, but I would want to remember my sweet ones in happy pics. I haven’t had to face this in a very long time since my 9 year old Layla is my first dog as an adult (I am 55). But I know someday that I will be more comforted looking back on wonderful memories of her sweet silliness at home and her wonderful dog agility career.

Hav

(5,969 posts)
13. Different people cope differently I guess
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 02:21 PM
Nov 2019

but I agree with you. It's enough of a heartbreak when you dream about your lost pets and in that last second before waking up you realize he/she is no more with you.

Bayard

(21,802 posts)
11. Gadzooks!
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 12:58 PM
Nov 2019

That's just freaky. Kind of like Roy Rogers having Trigger stuffed.

Can't imagine what three 150 lb. Great Pyrenees would cost. Wonder if she does horses?

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
12. Actually this is pretty interesting
Sun Nov 17, 2019, 01:06 PM
Nov 2019

IMO this is no more creepy than parents who keep their kid's rooms exactly as they were the day they died.

Who am I to question someone's grief?

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