Greyfriars Bobby, space chimps, pampered lobsters - feline taxidermy, recipes for rabbit from around the globe - all domesticated animal life, and death, is here. Inspired by the untimely demise of his pet hamster Silky for which, some twenty years later, he still holds himself responsible, Sam Leith explores and explains the universe of the Dead Pet. From dead pets in public life (Caligula's horse, Laika the astro-dog) to the real-life pet cemeteries of Beverley Hills, from a selection of the cruellest deaths meted out to pets in the movies to facts about the animal actors and stunt doubles involved, from a comparison of attitudes and doctrines of pet afterlife across religions, to Ancient Roman recipes for dormice and songbirds, this is one stocking-filler that will make you look twice at the turkey this Christmas.