It might not be socially acceptable to stuff your beloved pet and put it on display in your living room but the practice is not illegal, and neither is putting dead domestic pets in the freezer, the Animal Welfare Department has confirmed.

The issue came to light after a woman who is currently appealing for information on her lost Yorkshire Terrier complained that neither the Animal Welfare Directorate nor the Police would take action against a man who is holding on to the memory of two of his dogs in this unusual way.

The woman said she received a telephone call from someone who told her that a man had been seen going into his apartment with a dog very similar to hers. The police and Animal Welfare were called in and the man told them that he is keeping a recently deceased dog in the freezer, pending the construction of the pet incinerator and cemetery. He also showed them another pet of his, which he had taken to a taxidermist after its death. Both animals were micro-chipped and AWD officers verified that they belonged to the man.

When contacted, an Animal Welfare Directorate official said there was nothing in the law that barred people from stuffing or freezing their pets once they passed away. It seems, in fact, that a number of people are holding dead animals in the deep freeze until the incinerator is completed, by which time they can give their beloved pets a more fitting farewell.

 

Credit: Bob the regimental dog, Scottish National War Museum. Neil Camilleri.