THE owner of a taxidermist business has continued to hit back at critics after revealing that she also skins dead cats for their bereaved owners.
Maddy, who owns Melbourne based Chimera Taxidermy, has recently been the subject of online intrigue after one of her dog pelts went viral last month.
The 29-year-old was forced to respond after footage of her creation spread out on the floor led many viewers to assume it was going to be used as a rug by its old owners.
But it appears the outcry over the golden retriever pelt hasn’t distracted her from her work as she shared her latest design.
In her clip, posted to Instagram, she showed off a preserved pelt of an orange tabby cat, complete with a collar, as she revealed that her skills extends beyond just dogs.
“He passed away from natural causes and so his owner chose to preserve his pelt,” she wrote. “Thank you as always for the trust.”
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Maddie has only recently opened up about her taxidenemy after her unorthodox mementos gained traction online.
Starting her trade at just 18, she only moving into exclusively working with family pets three years ago.
In that time she had been asked to preserve “pretty much any pet you can think of," including cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, and goats.
"It’s definitely not for everyone," she told Yahoo News: "It's sometimes difficult working with pets compared to other animals."
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However, she added: "It's more rewarding to be able to help people with their grief and allow them to keep a part of their pet forever.
"Pet taxidermy has only really become more popular in the last five years or so, so it's a very new thing to see for most people.
"Some are more of a sentimental keepsake, others are on display resting in their beds or however their owners wanted them preserved."
The attention on her business has grown after Maddy was forced to explain that one of her pelts had not been created as an ornamental rug for a living room.
Responding to the furore with a follow-up post on her TikTok on Friday she explained that the pelts are kept stored away or are displayed, but definitely not used as something to walk on.
"I didn't make a living room rug out of this golden retriever. I create alternative pet memorials for those that want to keep a physical reminder of their pet," she said.
"Some people choose only part of the pelt, some people choose the entire pelt.
"The pets I preserve are not floor rugs. They are stored alongside ashes, photos, artwork, collars, and whatever other mementos the owner has kept… It's the same concept as storing an urn on the shelf."
n the clip, she showed one of her previous preserved pelts in pride of place on a shelf, alongside animal skulls.
DOGGED OPINIONS
A number of followers responded positively once she explained why she did it.
One wrote: "While I don’t know if I could have gone with this option, I also wonder what it would be like to feel my pup's fur in tough moments missing them!"
"At first I thought it was kind of strange, but little by little I realized that it's a beautiful tribute to an animal that seemed to be so kind and precious to its family," a second said.
"A beautiful way to remember the good times that this family will keep to this day. An exceptionally amazing job!"
While a third joked: "Idk, I think my tabby cat would make a beautiful little rug."
Taxidermy has always had been a divisive topic – leaving pet lovers divided about the means of keeping their fluffy pals around for a bit longer.
But it turns out that pelts are far from weirdest creations by bereaved owners.
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Last week, it was revealed that a man had turned taken grieving the family pet to new heights by turning them into levitating drones.
Plus one family revealing they had turned their dead pet hedgehog into a Christmas tree decoration before exclaiming that it had brought them unbridled joy.
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