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To each his own. I have no problem with some family keeping a deceased pet's pelt if it means something to them to retain it. Even if they want to just rub their bare feet on it in rememberance. It is not like they slaughtered their dog for it. Dog dies naturally, after that what does it matter? It certainly is not something I would do, but I don't see the harm or "disrespect" in the odd choice they made over a beloved former pet.
I can see why some people would be disturbed by their doing this. I am not.
We all grieve differently. I've seen stuffed and mounted cats and knew one fellow who wore his dog's pelt as a vest. Some folks freeze dry deceased pets. Me? I'd settle for a nicely framed photo or painting.
When we had our 2 dogs put to sleep, it was offered to us to have their paw prints put into a plaster of paris kind of thing. That was distasteful to ME. For one thing, if I wanted such a thing, I would've done it when they were alive and well. I didn't need the physical reminder that they were dead. I already knew all too well, that they were gone.
I just wanted my memories and pictures, of when they were alive.
Sometimes it's hard to understand that people grieve differently. I wouldn't turn my dog into a rug, and I wouldn't have my dog stuffed and mounted. They were creatures that I loved, and members of my family...It would just...bother me to do those things to my dogs.
But...if I caught a whopper of a bass...I might get that mounted. If I was a hunter, and killed a 12 point buck or something, I might get that mounted. In an antique store, I once saw an entire miniature miriachi band made of stuffed baby alligators. I think about them from time to time...I should've bought the set. I have some macabre sensibilities, and would've enjoyed having them. lol
But I couldn't enjoy something like that with someone I loved.
In Victorian times people used to have jewelry made from pieces of a loved one's hair.
Things change as times change. I think we are so far removed from the daily possibility of our own deaths or seeing real death that most of us don't like much but symbolic reminders.
I had a long-lived and favorite cat that I actually considered having treated after she died. But the longer I thought about it the more problems I could see with it for me.
Instead I took a couple of pictures curled in her basket. But I don't look at them. It's obvious to me she isn't there anymore and there's little comfort in it for me.
Whatever works.
Afterthought:
It bothers me that we squirt our dead full of preservative and spend obscene amounts of money on their burials. I'd like to get back to anything more resembling natural death and burial.
We saved a clipping of fur to remember our Golden's beautiful, deep color. I can see putting that into a locket or even in a frame with a picture of her. Her ashes have a place of honor on the fireplace mantel in our family room.
She was a very much loved member of our family. I can't imagine what those owners were thinking.
When we had our 2 dogs put to sleep, it was offered to us to have their paw prints put into a plaster of paris kind of thing. That was distasteful to ME. For one thing, if I wanted such a thing, I would've done it when they were alive and well. I didn't need the physical reminder that they were dead. I already knew all too well, that they were gone.
I just wanted my memories and pictures, of when they were alive.
Sometimes it's hard to understand that people grieve differently. I wouldn't turn my dog into a rug, and I wouldn't have my dog stuffed and mounted. They were creatures that I loved, and members of my family...It would just...bother me to do those things to my dogs.
But...if I caught a whopper of a bass...I might get that mounted. If I was a hunter, and killed a 12 point buck or something, I might get that mounted. In an antique store, I once saw an entire miniature miriachi band made of stuffed baby alligators. I think about them from time to time...I should've bought the set. I have some macabre sensibilities, and would've enjoyed having them. lol
But I couldn't enjoy something like that with someone I loved.
Yes, we all grieve in different ways, and "our way" isn't meant for everyone else. Amen to that.
I have a few of those paw print castings. I love them. The vet's assistant paints them the color of the pet's fur. To me, they are something special to cherish.
Definitely not my thing, bletch. I don't want ashes, I don't want pelts, and I don't want fur that was cut off them after they died. Nor do I want a paw print that was made after they died. Recently I received an envelope from my vet's office in the mail and the only thing in it was a piece of paper with a paw print inked on it. Nothing else. I had to assume they did this to my dead cat after she was euthanized, back in early April, though I always say NO when those things are offered to me. I was annoyed having it sent to me and threw it away, but it still rankles.
I have memories, photographs and fur that was combed from them when they were ALIVE. I do not want things from after they died. With some of the saved fur I usually sew a little stuffed pillow from a remnant of their favorite bed.
Conversely, my mother had the ashes of every cat she ever had. We slipped as many of those little containers in her coffin as we could manage, and they were all cremated together, and the ashes (in an urn) were buried in consecrated ground in the Catholic cemetery.
This reminds me of an incident years ago when I was working at a different assisted living facility. I was in the elevator, and a woman came in wearing a fur hat. I said oh I love your hat, just trying to be nice, and she said “oh thank you, it used to be my dog”
Yes, we all grieve in different ways, and "our way" isn't meant for everyone else. Amen to that.
I have a few of those paw print castings. I love them. The vet's assistant paints them the color of the pet's fur. To me, they are something special to cherish.
Please know...I was not disparaging anyone else's ways of remembering and grieving. I'm glad, sincerely, that you get comfort from the paw castings. Truly.
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