Pamela Paquin, the founder of Petite Mort Fur, cashes in on roadkill. How? She turns deceased animals left on the side of the road into ethical furs worth hundreds.
Some of the items she sells? A raccoon neck muff for $1,500, a red fox wrap stole for $2,000, and a fawn scarf and belt for $2,500. But if that’s a little above your price tag, there are also fur pom pom earings that retail for just $45. She sells the items on Etsy, and her store can be found here.
Along with making money, Paquin says that she wants to inspire a new industry for “ethical fur.” She told CNN in an interview: “It was a wasted resource and I decided after some deep thought that I could make a viable business out of this.” Paquin added that she hopes the business can one day “completely mitigate the need to have animals in cages.”
To get the furs required for the business, she works with the Highway Department and animal control near the Boston area. “I started working with the Highway Department and animal control officers who would report them to me when they had an animal down,” she told CNN. “They took me seriously, thank God.”
She’s responsible for sewing the furs herself after getting them tanned elsewhere. Paquin also said in the interview that she skins the animals to leave in forests for other creatures to eat.
“It’s a way for the customer to honor the animal and the animal’s life, rather than dissociating from it in the way you have to when you have fur that comes from trapped or caged animals,” she said.