Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
This story is about a Malaysian woman who practises taxidermy to help pet owners to preserve their pets after they’ve died.
“People often think I murder the animals and the whole process of taxidermy is hideous and gruesome. However, that’s not true. It is one of the most beautiful things you can do for a beloved deceased pet.”
According to Anna, many Malaysians are still quite ill-informed about taxidermy. She says that the worst part of her job is the ignorance that people have on the art and science of taxidermy.
Anna has always been fascinated with what happens to dead animals and whether there is life after death for them.
“When something dies, I feel like the best way to memorialise them is by preserving them.”
The first time the writer met Anna several years ago, she was working at a music festival doing body art with henna. However, taxidermy had always been on her mind since she was young.
She searched high and low for taxidermy classes and workshops in Malaysia for years, but failed to find anything substantive, so she decided to learn online.
After a few years, she found a veterinarian, Dr. Andy, who actively does taxidermy for the national zoo and museum. He started teaching her the methods and she became his student.
“My teacher and I work well together because we both have the same mentality in this art of preservation.”
“Basically, when an animal is dead, the most important step is to freeze it.”
The basic process of taxidermy and the techniques involved vary depending on the animals being used.
“The process of decaying starts rapidly as soon as the animal is dead. So, freezing it will avoid ‘slipping’.
“Slipping is when the fur comes out of the pelt easily. To avoid this, I freeze the animal until I’m prepared for the process of ‘skinning’.
“Skinning takes a lot of patience and a really sharp scalpel. After I have removed the skin, the next process will be ‘fleshing’. This is when I remove all remaining flesh and fat from the skin. I use several chemicals for this process.”
“Next would be stuffing the animal. I use wires to replace the back-bone structure and stuff it with foam, cotton or pine wood.”
“The last step will be to sew it up and mount it as I see fit. It really is as simple as I’m explaining it here. The process might be tedious, but it’s so rewarding and fun.”
Although her lifestyle deviates from the norm, Anna loves it and worked hard to get to where she is today. She describes herself as someone who is in touch with her own consciousness.
“With all the changes of life, I live everyday focused on the little details which inspire and create value in my life.”
To practice taxidermy, Anna purchased dead frozen rats from a local reptile pet shop. The frozen rats are usually bought by pet owners to feed their snakes. She experimented a lot with rogue taxidermy on the rats.
“Rogue taxidermy is where I exaggerate and create an unconventional look of an animal. For example, my collection of bizarre conjoined rats.”
Some of her customers have requested all kinds of weird things like a rat with bat wings, a rat riding a squirrel, a rat wearing a dress and a rat with angel wings.
So Anna also often sculpts things like wings to be attached to the stuffed rats and accessories the rats too.
After practising and learning a lot from her mentor, she started her little taxidermy business called ‘Anna and the Noisy Covent’. She promotes her business mostly via Instagram and Facebook.
Anna was quite pleasantly surprised to find that there are quite a number of taxidermy enthusiasts in Malaysia.
“I am very surprised that most of my customers now are pet owners. When I started taxidermy, I did not expect pet owners in Malaysia to be so open and receptive to preserving their pets, but it has been great. More people are enquiring, and they are generally glad that there is somebody in Malaysia who can preserve their pets.”
Other than pet owners, many of her customers are also fishing enthusiasts who want their trophies preserved.
“Fish are much harder and finicky to work on but the best part about working with fishes is I get to paint them after they are stuffed and sewed. The natural colour of the fish fades away dramatically after I skin them. So, the final process of fish taxidermy is to colour them.
“I paint and blend my colours with acrylic paint. Most customers would request to have the fish painted as close as possible to their original natural colour, but I do get customers that prefer me to go wild and do an abstract paint job on the fish.”
“I welcome all suggestions and requests. I take it as a challenge to fulfill my customer’s idea of preservation.”
Taxidermy has helped Anna to see something dead in a whole new perspective. “There are so many possibilities to learn from and appreciate the dead.”
What do you think of this story?
Let us know in the comments!
Submit your story to hello@inreallife.my and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: When I Was 8, My Dad Bought Me A Hot Wheels Car, Now I Have 1890 Toy Cars Worth RM25,000
When I Was 8, My Dad Bought Me A Hot Wheels Car, Now I Have 1890 Toy Cars Worth RM25,000
More from Real People
This 12-Year-Old M’sian Is The Youngest Co-Leader In The NASA Space Apps Challenge Being Held In Kuala Lumpur
This story is about Sarvysswharrann Yogeswaran, a 12-year-old boy who’s already —quite literally— reaching for the stars.
This Roadside Burger Seller Gives Out Free Burgers To Those Who Don’t Have Money To Buy Food
This story is about a burger stall owner who, since 2022, has been giving out free burgers to the ones …
This Ex-Navy Retiree Earns RM8000 A Month From Collecting and Selling Lost Golf Balls
This story is about a retired navy diver who now makes a living by retrieving and selling discarded golf balls …
