Woman has her beloved pet hamster, Hammington, stuffed as a pole dancer | Weird News

Pets are massively important parts of our lives, with many treating them as our own siblings or children.

When a beloved pet dies there are many ways to memorialise them, from having them cremated to getting a tattoo of them or keeping their collar.

One less common way of keeping our pets in our lives is through the art of taxidermy, which preserves and stuffs the animal.

But one pet owner has chosen a much less traditional pose for her beloved hamster.

Jess Porter-Langson, 27, was devastated when her Roborovski dwarf hamster, named Hammington, died last August after having him for three years.

She wanted to do ‘something special’ to immortalise him – so found a local taxidermy artist to turn Hammington, also known as Hammy, into a pole dancing stripper.

Jess’s ‘iconic’ pet is captured in all his glory, wearing a bright pink thong stuffed with dollar bills as he ‘hustles for money’, clinging onto a stripper pole.

She keeps the taxidermy piece, which cost her £175, next to her bed.

Jess, a music merchandiser, says the ’emotional support hamster’ helped her through her formative years after moving to London in her early 20s.

She says she was blown away by the ‘perfect’ creation, adding: ‘I bought a hamster and that became my little project over the lockdown. I built him an enclosure out of recycled material and stuff. It was my hobby.

‘He ended up living a really long time. I only got the hamster because they live for one to two years and that’s all I could commit to.

‘Hammy died on August 27 2023, just shy of three years after I got him. He passed away in his sleep just of old age. A good way to go. Not like flying into a blender or something like some people’s hamsters.

‘He was a really big part of my formative life, especially after moving to London. He really was an emotional support hamster, which is crazy to say.

‘This hamster was so iconic and all of my friends knew Hammy and wanted to see him. He needed something special.

‘I don’t even know where the stripping hamster thing came from but I thought, what is more iconic than a hamster on a stripper pole hustling for money?

‘I was blown away. In my mind, I was preparing that something wouldn’t be right and I thought I was going to have to tell her to redo it and take my dead hamster apart again.

‘But when I saw it I was just gobsmacked like, wow this is beyond perfect. She did such a good job.

‘I love the thong. She even sewed it out of little fabric. It’s so good. I love his little smile as well. He’s got this creepy little smile going on.

‘It would be shocking if I ever brought anyone home, I wouldn’t know what to tell them.

‘Everybody loves him. I pitched the idea to my friends first and asked if it was morally questionable or a good idea and everyone said I had to do it. He deserved it.’

Taxidermist Bea Ostrowska, who created the piece, said: ‘It was such a pleasure meeting Jess and helping her to immortalise Hammy.

‘His little pink thong was a bit of a different project than my usual horror creations but this along with the fact that he was a beloved pet made it even more special.’

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