- Grieving pet owners freeze-dry their furry friends so they don't have to say goodbye when they die
- Freeze-dried taxidermist Chuck Rupert told DailyMail.com that he typically preserves up to 90 animals a year, including dogs, cats, hamsters and even snakes.
- Many of his clients choose this path, he said, because it gives them the “peace of mind” of knowing they can go home after a beloved pet dies.
A growing number of grieving pet owners are freeze-drying their furry friends so they don't have to say goodbye when they die.
Unlike traditional taxidermy, which may strip the animal's skin or distort its shape, freeze-drying is more natural and can better preserve the animal's appearance.
1 freeze-dried taxidermist, Ch.uck Rupert, who runs a company called Second Life Freeze Dry, told DailyMail.com that he typically rescues up to 90 animals a year.Dogs, cats, hamsters, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, ferrets, squirrels, mink, and even rattlesnakes.
However, this service is not cheap. Depending on the size of the animal, costs can range from $1,200 to more than $4,000.
Among those who have used it is Anni Pereja, who was distraught when her dog Nate died in March 2023, nearly 11 years after rescuing the Yorkie-Maltese mix from an Arkansas puppy mill. There are some too.
“I found Second Life Freeze Dry through an internet search. I loved the beauty and healthy pose of the photos,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about it, but as soon as I found out about it, it made perfect sense.”
“It really helped me a lot in my grieving process.”
In fact, she's so impressed with the service, and so captivated by it, that she's considering buying Rupert's company when he semi-retires later this year.
Second Life Freeze Dry is located in rural Pennsylvania, but Rupert says they receive requests from all over the United States and abroad, including cats mailed from Singapore and dogs mailed from Hong Kong.
Explaining how they process international orders, Rupert said: “It's possible, but it's expensive. You have to send it to a broker who can get it through customs,” he explained.
The freeze-drying process is a labor of love, but also a painstaking one.
Typically, small animals take 4 to 5 months to store, while large animals take up to a year.
He explained that the process involves removing the animal's organs and filling the body cavity with natural wood filler before sewing the animal back together.
Next, position the animal in the pose requested by the owner. They often sleep with their eyes closed, sit with their eyes open, or have a happy facial expression.
He says more than half of his clients request a peaceful sleeping pose, while others want a more vibrant, lively look. He has done some saves with the dog wearing a sweater or sleeping in a dog bed.
“I have a client who told me how his cat would put his paws inside his tennis shoes every night when he came home from work. I am saving it.”
Rupert explained that once the pose is complete, the animal is placed in a freeze-drying machine with a vacuum that extracts and preserves water from the tissue so it doesn't rot.
“It's not magic,” he explained. “It's at low temperatures and vacuum that we can preserve animals.”
Once the drying parts are complete, use oil-based paints to add color to the animal to make it look like it did when it was alive.
We raise an average of about 70 to 90 animals a year.
“People think this is the biggest thing that's ever happened or something totally crazy,” Rupert said.
He added: “Not a single person regretted this decision.”
He revealed some of the strangest requests he's ever received in his 10 years in the industry. For example, when I received a call from someone asking me to freeze-dry a man's testicles.
“That was a request I refused,” he told DailyMail.com with a laugh. Maybe I realized that I have a line.
“And the truth is, the organ itself is not a candidate for the dryer.”
He once accepted a part of the human body – a woman's foot.
“He was a man from California whose mother had had her leg amputated and he needed it for a complete burial for religious reasons,” he explained.
Oddly enough, he said the hospital had not intended to release the leg to his family, but after checking his credentials, they sent the leg directly to him.
He said preserving the feet took much longer than expected, ultimately requiring up to nine months in the dryer.
“That request came about four or five years ago and I believe she has not passed away yet,” he said. “That was one of the most outlandish requests.”
he laughed. “There's nothing that someone calls and asks me about that would surprise or embarrass me. It's all pretty crazy.
He is in the freeze-dried taxidermy business, but admitted he doesn't think he would choose this option when his pet dies.
“From a personal standpoint, I would never want to leave my pet unattended,” he said. “It's literally like coming home every day and getting kicked in the teeth. It's hard when you lose it.”
He said many of his clients choose this path because it gives them a sense of “comfort.”
“It gives them the feeling that their pet is home again,” he said. “People are surprised to find that their pets look exactly the same as the last time they saw them.”
Pereya said it was an emotional moment when she picked up Nate after he was rescued. He looked so real, she said, just like he was when he was alive.
He now sits on the dog bed in her bedroom and she is happy to see him every day.
