Fur-ever friends! Pet owners are FREEZE-DRYING dead cats, dogs, guinea pigs and snakes so they can stay with them forever – and the results are astonishingly life-like

A growing number of grieving pet owners are freeze-drying their furry friends when they die so they don’t have to say goodbye.

Unlike traditional taxidermy, which can remove an animal’s skin and distort its shape, freeze-drying is more natural and can better preserve its appearance.

One freeze-drying taxidermist, Chuck Rupert, owner of a company called Second Life Freeze Dry, told DailyMail.com that he typically saves up to 90 animals a year, including dogs, cats, hamsters, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, ferrets, squirrels, mink and even rattlesnakes.

But this service is not cheap, and depending on the size of the animal, the cost can range from $1,200 to $4,000, and more.

Among those who have used it is Anni Pereya, who was distraught when her dog Nate died in March 2023, nearly 11 years after rescuing the Yorkie-Maltese mix from a puppy mill in Arkansas.

‘I found Second Life Freeze Dry through an internet search. I liked the aesthetic of the photos and the wholesome poses,” she said. “I didn’t even know anything about it, but as soon as I heard about it, it made perfect sense to me.”

‘It really helped me enormously in my grieving process.’

Anni Pereya pictured with her Yorkie-Maltese mix, Nate, whom she rescued from a puppy mill in Arkansas. In March 2023, Nate passed away and learned about Second Life Freeze Dry through an internet search that she claims helped her with the “grief process.”

Pereya said when she picked Nate up after he was rescued (pictured), it was an emotional moment. He looked so lifelike, just like when he was alive, she said. He now sits on his dog bed in her bedroom so she enjoys seeing him every day

In fact, she was so impressed and fascinated by the service that she is now considering taking over Rupert’s business when he semi-retires later this year.

Second Life Freeze Dry is located in rural Pennsylvania, but Rupert said requests have come from across the U.S. and abroad, including a cat from Singapore and a dog from Hong Kong.

Explaining how he deals with foreign orders, Rupert said: ‘It can be done, but it is expensive. I need to send them to a broker who can clear customs,” he explained.

The process of freeze drying is a labor of love, but also a difficult one.

Normally smaller animals take four to five months to preserve and larger animals up to a year.

He explained that the process involves removing the animal’s organs and filling the body cavity with a natural wood filler before sewing the animal back up.

He then places the animal in the position the pet owner requested – often sleeping with its eyes closed, sitting with its eyes open, or with a happy expression.

More than half of his clients, he said, request a peaceful sleeping position, but there are others who want a more animated, lively expression. He has done some conservation work where the dog sits in his sweater or on his dog bed.

“I have a client who told me how his cat would place each paw in his tennis shoes when he came home from work every night, so I keep the cat in the exact position he requested, tennis shoes and all.”

Rupert explained that once the pose is complete, they are placed in a freeze-dried machine that has a vacuum that draws and preserves moisture from the tissue so the animal will not decompose.

“It’s not magic,” he explained. ‘It is cold temperatures and a vacuum that preserve the animal.’

Once the drying part is complete, he uses oil-based paint to give the animal more color and make them look like they did when they were alive.

He averages about 70 to 90 animals per year.

Rupert said: ‘People either think this is the best thing that ever happened, or it’s absolutely insane.’

He added: ‘I’ve never had anyone regret the decision.’

A Golden Doodle, one of the larger dogs Rupert has worked on, looks lifelike lying on its stomach and looking up

Most people ask for a sleeping, peaceful position for their pets, like this cat

The Chihuahua is placed in the dog bed at the customer’s request

A guinea pig is one of the small animals that Rupert has kept for his owners

In his decade in the business, he revealed some of the strangest requests he had, like the time someone called him about freeze-drying a man’s “testicles.”

He laughed and told DailyMail.com ‘that was a request I turned down. I think I’ve discovered that I do have a line.’

“And the truth is, that organ itself wouldn’t be a good candidate for the dryer.”

He once accepted a human body part: a woman’s foot.

“It was a man from California whose mother had her foot amputated and for religious reasons they needed her foot so she could be completely buried,” he explained.

Strangely, he said the hospital would not release the foot to the family, but after checking his details, sent it directly to him.

He said it took much longer to preserve the foot than expected and it ended up having to sit in the dryer for up to nine months.

“That request came in about four to five years ago and I don’t believe she has been killed yet,” he said. “That was one of the wildest requests.”

He laughed. “There’s nothing anyone could call me and ask that would surprise or antagonize me. It’s all quite crazy.’

He admitted that while he is into freeze-drying taxidermy, he doesn’t think he would choose this option for his own pets when they come over.

Animals of all shapes and sizes can be freeze-dried, even this snake

“Personally, I would never want any of my pets to be preserved,” he said. “It would literally be like getting kicked in the teeth every day when I come home. It’s hard enough when you lose them.’

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 back home,” he says. “People are amazed that their pet looks exactly the same as the last time they saw it.”

Pereya said when she picked Nate up after he was rescued, it was an emotional moment. He looked so lifelike, just like when he was alive, she said.

He now sits on his dog bed in her bedroom so she enjoys seeing him every day.