History Main / DeadPetSketch

* Given a different twist in the ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' Flash shorts. Mahiro asked Cuuko to take care of his goldfish, and when he gets back he starts demanding to know what kind of food she fed it... because it's sprouted human legs. Cuuko, being an alien, doesn't quite understand that this isn't normal.

* In ''Series/{{MADtv}}'''s dead pet sketch, a house-sitting friend is saying goodbye to the pet parakeet [[http://youtu.be/3iqSIkunnz4 when it bites him and he flings it to the floor]], killing it. He then goes on to [[AccidentalMurder kill the friend when he returns]], the [[LeaveNoWitnesses friend's mother, and several bystanders including the mailman and a water deliveryman]] - the last of which is lampshaded as a ContrivedCoincidence by the house-sitter. He also calls ''in'' a jogger across the street, claiming he's addicted to it. But, of course, at the end we find out [[spoiler: the parrot wasn't dead, only unconscious. However, it saw all the ''actual'' murders [[NotInFrontOfTheParrot and is killed to prevent it from telling anyone.]]]]

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* There's an old story about a woman who was flying on an airplane with her dog in a cage. She had forgotten something at home and left the dog with an airport official. The official noticed that the dog inside was dead. So he raced out and got a new dog that looked similar. When the woman returned, he gave her the new dog, and she knew right away that it wasn't her old dog. When he asked why she told him that her dog was dead and she was taking him to his old home to be buried. This legend was adapted into a ''WesternAnimation/FreakyStories'' cartoon (see above under WesternAnimation), but with a twist ending where the woman never realizes the switch, but just assumes her dog was NotQuiteDead after all.

** A throwaway line by Susan in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' implies that she has ''successfully'' pulled the pet-replacement trick on Twila at least once, with gerbils. Presumably Twila herself was the one who discovered the deaths of the three that are buried in the garden.

* ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' has Riley the next classmate to take the class pet fish home for the weekend. When the fish dies, Riley, of course, blames herself while Auggie tries to find the "murderer." Farkle admits he killed the fish by accident so replaced it with another...who then died so he replaced it with another...who ''also'' died. Then Lucas reveals he lost three fish while Maya reveals ''seven'' died under her care. To Riley's shock, she realizes not only has ''every'' kid in the class lost a fish during their weekends but most have done it several times. The fish Riley just got to replace the lost one is "Charlie ''#106''. The fish store owner cracks that his major source of income is kids and parents replacing lost fish.

* ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' has Riley the next classmate to take the class pet fish home for the weekend. When the fish dies, Riley, of course, blames herself while Auggie tries to find the "murderer." Farkle admits he killed the fish by accident so replaced it with another...who then died so he replaced it with another...who ''also' died. Then Lucas reveals he lost three fish while Maya reveals ''seven'' died under her care. To Riley's shock, she realizes not only has ''every'' kid in the class lost a fish during their weekends but most have done it several times. The fish Riley just got to replace the lost one is "Charlie ''#106''. The fish store owner cracks that his major source of income is kids and parents replacing lost fish.

Not to be confused with ''[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python]]'''s "Dead Parrot Sketch", which is an altogether different [[IncrediblyLamePun beast]] entirely... in which the Norwegian Blue Parrot was... resting.

* ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' twisted this beautifully when the main characters replaced the canary only to have the owner very surprised on her return because it had died the night before.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "Blind Devotion", Gordon Brittas accidentally kills Colin's pet canary (by closing a door whilst it was getting out and becoming crushed as a result). He immediately gets Tim to buy a replacement canary. We never do find out if Colin fell for it (as he was blind for the episode) but Brittas does complain that it looked too yellow for his liking.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' episode 413 has this done mostly straight with a bluebird owned by a guest star character. Slightly changed because the bird wasn't sick and had no reason to die. [[spoiler:It was sick, they just didn't recognize it.]]

* In ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'', Kiki is supposed to deliver a plush cat, but she drops it along the way. She ends up substituting her cat Jiji (who happens to be a dead ringer for the plushie), who has to act like an inanimate object until she can retrieve the real thing and deliver it.

* There's another story about a dog owner whose dog brings him a dead rabbit from next door while the rabbit's owner is on vacation. He freaks out thinking that [[TheCorpseStopsHere the dog has killed the rabbit itself]], so cleans the rabbit up and puts it in the cage so the rabbit's owner will think it died naturally. When the rabbit's owner gets home, he tells the dog's owner that he thinks [[{{Troll}} someone's messing with him]] because his rabbit died before he left, and he came home to find it dug up and put back in its cage again.

Outside of parodies, this trope entered {{discredited|Trope}} during TheNewTens. Not only was it seen as overdone, but audiences also became more aware of how strong human-animal attachments really are, to the point where losing a beloved pet can be as devastating as losing a human friend. As a result, straightforward attempts at a Dead Pet Sketch are seen as needlessly cruel.

* Given a different twist in the ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'' Flash shorts. Mahiro asked Cuuko to take care of his goldfish, and when he gets back he starts demanding to know what kind of food she fed it... because it's sprouted human legs. Cuuko, being an alien, doesn't quite understand that this isn't normal.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has a variant in the episode "A Bird In The Hoof"; it differs in that Fluttershy literally ''steals'' the Princess' pet bird in order to give it medical attention, and the drama lies in her caring for it adequately before giving it back to her. The bird dies at the last possible moment... [[spoiler: before it is resurrected from its own ashes, because it's a phoenix.]]

** With a hamster. The little girl wasn't fooled for a moment as this happened ''every'' time she left her hamster with somebody.

* ''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', Arnold's goldfish, Abraham
* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': After Drake & Josh fear they have accidentally killed Megan's pet hamster, they spend the rest of the episode in paranoia about how Megan will get her revenge on them.

* ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'' with a turtle.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBrakShow'', Thunderclese's goldfish.

* A rather over-the-top example in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', where in a flashback Robin's parents replace her pet dog with a ''turtle''.

* ''Shakey Ground'' (short lived SitCom starring Matt Frewer): In-laws go to Hawaii for a week leaving their dog (which they inherited from the grandmother) with the family. Dog dies, dad gets a replacement from an animal shelter which looks ''exactly'' like the dead dog...except this one is female.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': the beholder crimelord Xanathar has a pet goldfish named Sylgar, who is possibly the only creature he cares about and feels empathy for, and most of the members of his guild are terrified that if Sylgar, dies, it would drive Xanathar into an UnstoppableRage. Because of this, his personal fishkeeper Ott has gotten very good at sourcing replacement Sylgars and keeping his master in ignorance whenever his beloved pet dies.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': the beholder crimelord Xanathar has a pet goldfish named Sylgar, who is possibly the only creature he cares about and feels empathy for, and most of the members of his guild are terrified that if Sylgar, dies, it would drive Xanathar into an UnstoppableRage. Becuase of this, his personal fishkeeper Ott has gotten very good at sourcing replacement Sylgars and keeping his master in ignorance whenever his beloved pet dies.

* ''WesternAnimation/MillyMolly'': In "Harry's Mouse", Molly starts to look after her classmate Harry's pet mouse Brian, but he escapes and Mrs. Horren, who [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes is afraid]] [[EekAMouse of mice]], disallows Brian to be in her house and so Milly has to look after him instead. He escapes again, and the girls fear that Milly's cat Marmalade had eaten him, so they buy another mouse and pass it off as Brian. Then, the real Brian shows up and [[YourTomcatIsPregnant the other mouse turns out to be a doe and gets pregnant by him.]] Harry gives the babies away and keeps the doe, naming her Brioni.

Done so often and often so miserably that it seems to have finally, mercifully become a DiscreditedTrope.