Dear Labby,
A dear friend just lost her longtime animal companion: a black and white cat named Kid. She’s sad, but I’m worried she’s making a big mistake in mummifying her cat. She visited a pet mummification website which outlined exactly how to prepare the cat for such a procedure and told her where to send the dead animal.
She is not thinking straight and is willing to pay $25,000 for this scam. Shouldn’t she just donate to a shelter? How to stop her?
Signed:
Genuinely Empathetic, but Typically Sees Taxidermy for Unconscious Furry Friends as Extremely Distasteful
While my personal opinion is that mummifying a deceased pet is as enchanting as fecal-scented dinner candles, etiquette says your friend has the right to mourn and memorialize her cat any way she pleases.
A surface layer (why oh why does everything sound like the beginning of a joke when talking taxidermy?) investigation into the site you reference yielded no evidence that the operation (here we go again) is a scam. Meaning, whether or not you agree with the philosophies of the Summum movement–and what they do with their profits–you do indeed get a mummified pet for your money. Why you would want to pay for such a service, let alone that much, is a matter of personal choice.
And G.E.T.S.T.U.F.F.E.D., you know me: There’s nothing I respect more than a hefty donation to a shelter in need. But if a well-timed “Are you sure it’s worth $25,000? Imagine what a shelter could do with that kind of money…” doesn’t work, you’d best just let it lie. Or sit. Perch? You know–whatever.
