children's toys

Filipino toy maker creates life-like pet plushies for grieving owners

Reuters

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Filipino toy maker creates life-like pet plushies for grieving owners

A realistic pet plushie of departed dog Kenken is displayed beside its photo and a box containing its ashes, at the home of pet owner Jaja Lazarte, in Caloocan City, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 23, 2023.

REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

David Tan, owner of Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, uses synthetic furs and airbrushing to create life-like stuffed toys of owners' dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits

MANILA, Philippines – Philippines toy maker David Tan is flooded with orders from grieving pet owners who want to memorialize their dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits with stuffed toys or ‘plushies’.

A realistic pet plushie of departed dog Luna is displayed beside its portrait, at the home of pet owner Herminhilda del Rosario, in Hagonoy town, Bulacan province, Philippines, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

Tan and a team of 20 employees use photos sent by customers to create life-like replicas of their deceased pets using synthetic fur that is airbrushed to recreate colors and markings of the animals.

A worker paints the mouth of a realistic pet plushie, at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province, Philippines, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

The process is different from taxidermy, which preserves the body of the animal, said Tan, owner of Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory.

A worker paints the fur of a realistic pet plushie, at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province, Philippines, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

“It removes that ‘ick’ factor. This is actually one hundred percent, genuinely a stuffed toy,” he said.

Each plushie costs about 3,500 pesos (US$ 65), which 38-year-old dog lover Jaja Lazarte said is a price worth paying for the memory of her Shih Tzu.

A worker paints the fur of a realistic pet plushie, at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province, Philippines, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

“Although his ashes are here, and his memories are here, it’s so much better to see something that really resembles him,” Lazarte said. – Rappler.com

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