A man from the North East of England has made an extraordinary financial and emotional investment in the future of his pet, paying close to £16,000 to have her cryogenically frozen after her death.
A Final Farewell That Isn't Final
Mark McAuliffe, a 38-year-old finance worker from Newcastle, was left devastated when his cherished cat, Bonny, passed away last year at the remarkable age of 23. Having adopted her as a tiny five-week-old kitten when he was just 16, Bonny was a fundamental part of his family. His profound grief led him to an unusual decision: to have her preserved through cryonics in the hope that advanced medical science might one day restore her to life.
"I was going to buy a vintage throne by Art Nouveau artist Carlo Bugatti and that was about £15,000," Mr McAuliffe explained. "But I loved the cat a bit more than that." He likened the costly procedure to an investment or a gamble, stating, "You are betting on a possibility. I thought Bonny should come along for the ride."
The High-Tech Journey to Preservation
Mr McAuliffe signed up Bonny, a non-pedigree shorthair, with the German firm Tomorrow Bio six months after taking out a life insurance policy for his own future cryopreservation. He paid £15,600 in three cash instalments for his pet's procedure. When Bonny died in June 2024, he carefully packed her body into a specially designed storage container supplied by the company.
"This cushioned the blow about Bonny's death," he revealed. "Because I have got it in the back of my mind that it is not going to be the final goodbye." Bonny was then transported by a dedicated courier to Tomorrow Bio's facility in Rafz, near Zurich, Switzerland.
Inside the Cryogenic Facility
Bonny is now stored in an underground unit operated by Tomorrow Bio's sister organisation, the European Biostasis Foundation. There, clients are held in a state of deep freeze within 3-metre-high steel containers filled with liquid nitrogen cooled to minus 196°C.
The facility currently houses a small but growing number of patients, including:
- Five whole-body human patients
- Fifteen brain-only human patients
- Two dogs
- Eight cats, including Bonny
The company reports that a further 700 to 800 people worldwide have signed up for the service, alongside Mr McAuliffe. For humans, full-body storage costs around £173,000, while neuropreservation (brain-only) is priced at approximately £55,000.
A Personal Commitment to the Future
Mr McAuliffe's commitment extends beyond his pet. He has arranged for his own body to be cryogenically preserved at the same Swiss facility after his death, ensuring he could potentially be reunited with Bonny. He noted that being child-free helped him afford the significant costs, but added he wouldn't be preserving his three other cats and tortoise, joking, "I don't want an animal sanctuary when I wake up."
The founder of Tomorrow Bio, Emil Kendziorra, leads this pioneering service which stores both animals and humans indefinitely, awaiting a future where science might conquer death itself. For Mark McAuliffe, the immense cost represents not just a gamble on technology, but the priceless value of a 23-year companionship.
