Freeze-Dry Pets for Preservation

choi

Penelope Green, Warm Hearts and Freeze-Dried Pets; Taxidermy is the wholesome family business on this reality TV show. New York Times, Jan 12, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/1 ... scp=1&sq=freeze pet&st=cse

Excerpt in the window of print: The sign in the front yard of the Ross home says, 'Bring us your dead.'

My comment:
(a) Xtreme Taxidermy
http://www.xtremetaxidermy.com/

Please click "pet Preservation" in the left column.

Its FAQ states, "The process of freeze drying is different than taxidermy in that the pet remains  completely intact. Once an owner decides how he wants his pet posed, the animal is prepared and placed in the freeze dryer where it undergoes a very slow dessication process.  All of the body's moisture is slowly extracted over a period of time depending on the animal's size."

(b) Taxidermy is not new. To freeze-dry an animal is.
(c) As a biologist, I am familiar with freeze-drying (the scientific term is lyophilization).

freeze-drying
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze-drying

I have doubts. Chairman Mao's body in Beijing Mausoleum was gutted before preservation (like Egyptian mummies), because internal organs are prone to rot, despite best preservation techniques. Moreover, hair is composed of keratin, a protein. With time, it, and everyting else, will disintegrate.

The Grosses offers a gimmick, in my view.