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Dead Pets are Everywhere
We bring together the global history and contemporary culture of pet loss as an exploration of love, loss, and cultural identity.
What can we learn from them?
What is this?
Dead Pet Girls exploring the weird, tender, and surprisingly rich cultural history of human-animal relationships through art, literature, social history, and the occasional space dog. Through research, site visits, interviews, and personal essays and narratives. We are painting a picture of the human-pet bond through death and beyond.
Grief is a universal experience, but we rarely talk about the pain of losing a beloved pet. We take pet death seriously as both a personal experience and a valuable insight into our society, values, and culture.
We delve into the world of pet death, offering a welcoming space for honest conversations whilst exploring the quirky cultural aspects of pet loss that are often left unspoken.
We believe the ways we bury, mourn, and memorialise our animals reveal something profound about who we are.
We also think it's pretty fascinating.
Argentina has the highest rate of dog ownership (78%)
Russia has the highest global rate of cat ownership (59% of households)
70% of American households own a pet
80% of Mexican households own a pet and 80% of those are dogs
In 1994 Dogs were banned from Antarctica
Japan has more pets than children
At 40% Madagascar has the highest rate of pet ownership in Africa
Pets are a BIG part of our lives
Over 1 billion
Two thirds
97%
Estimated number of pets around the world
Of American households have pets
Of American pet owners consider them family
More people than ever share their homes with pets and we spend over $200 billion on pet goods and services globally each year
In recent years, the number of pets has grown, as has our emotional connection to them.
This changes how we treat our animal companions and the roles they play in our personal lives and our societies
But no one wants to talk about death...
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Grief is a hard subject, and thinking about the death of pets we love can be scary and sad. But how we prepare for and remember our loved ones in death is one of the best ways to understand ourselves, our cultures, and the things that unite us.
![We recently stopped by @somersethouse latest exhibit Holy Pop curated by the brilliant @tory_turk and were blown away ✨ It’s everything we love: pop culture, kitschy objects, and taking seriously the different kinds of shrines we build to the things we love
[and the section of visiting famous graves really spoke to us too]🪦
There were a couple dead pets in the mix, but for anyone deeply devoted to pop culture and niche communities it’s an amazing exhibit
Truly a 10/10 for us! It’s free and if you’re in London we HIGHLY recommend checking it out 💖
#london #museums #somersethouse #artgallery #holypop](https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/719891656_1340865424240839_8299777904417160176_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=101&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0xJUFMuYmVzdF9pbWFnZV91cmxnZW4uQzMifQ%3D%3D&_nc_ohc=on2Wm2VolH8Q7kNvwGmizi-&_nc_oc=AdpVEJYpP5mNTBeQfIBDEL5xznZCy_BTdAZxoCfUUg8akTnhBYk2f15ZqoCr8V6RV4E&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=2YF1heVEGI2NlCxHBWOcoQ&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQGfbZpkcObuqd5_Wv7yc_wlJdBm6b3wdzuwijaipUzhRpO0LI1JCpPfhkik0ZdL9P7wvgGxN0kI&oh=00_AQFen32STQjMsRijK9GBOJkl7kgqfa_Ad0ORJYJXC9yWog&oe=6A780A58)
Questions? Collabs? A pet to memorialize? Lets chat!
Drop 'em here!