Planet Pluto is not dead. The controversial demotion was done by only four percent of the IAU, most of whom are not planetary scientists, in violation of the group's own bylaws. It was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers in a formal petition led by New Horizons Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern. Dwarf planets should simply be considered a subclass of planets--they are planets because they are large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium but of the dwarf subcategory because they are not large enough to gravitationally dominate their orbits.
The notion to 'demote" Pluto from planethood to a KBO, a “minor planet,” or even a comet provoked a great deal of public outcry as the essence is that that everyone knows Pluto is a planet—this is what we’ve all been taught since we were kids—so it would be wrong for astronomers to go changing their minds on us.