Woman’s Company Sells Roadkill for Hundreds of Dollars

Pamela Paquin picks up roadkill. It’s a central part of her job.

But she’s not a municipal sanitation worker or a highway department employee. She sells high-end fur garments and accessories made with what she calls “ethical fur” from animals that died accidentally — in other words, roadkill.

Paquin, whose company is called Petite Mort Fur, tells CNN Money:

“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.”

Paquin does work with a highway department and animal control officers, who call her when a downed animal is reported to them. She picks up the roadkill, skinning it on the spot when possible so she can leave the rest of the carcass behind.

She explains to CNN:

“I like to put the remains in the woods for other animals to have safely as a meal. It’s like roadkill sushi, really, but it’s in a safe place rather than having the scavengers go on the road and get hit as well.”

From there, Paquin, who lives in the Boston area, sends the skins to a tannery and sews the fur she collects into unique garments like neck muffs and earrings. Each piece gets a tag that specifies where and when the animal was killed.

The Petite Mort Fur website explains that Paquin “is predisposed to appreciate and respect our furry neighbors” partly because she grew up on a farm raising animals:

Above all things, Pamela believes in kindness towards one another — human to human, but also human to fellow living creatures — and this is the foundation of her life principles and Petite Mort.

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