Millions of pets are kept. They are loved and spoiled by their owners, they are best friends and often even life companions. However, thousands of pets die each year in mysterious circumstances. They are the victims of killer germs, which could also be dangerous to us humans. They are bred to be chronically sick monsters, misused as weapons or status symbols, neglected or tortured out of a misguided love of animals or egoism. Nobody knows the darker side of keeping animals better than Prof Achim Gruber. He runs the animal pathology department at the Freie Universität Berlin and in his book he tells of the heart-rending fates of animals. His moving stories from the post mortem room show how the relationship between the Germans and their pets really is.
