OFFBEAT

Look: Philippine toy maker creates life-like pet plushies for grieving owners

They use photos sent by customers to create life-like replicas of their deceased pets

Last updated: April 06, 2023 | 18:20

2 MIN READ

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

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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 colours and markings of the animals.

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

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"It removes that 'ick' factor. This is actually one hundred percent, genuinely a stuffed toy," he said. Each plushie costs about 3,500 pesos ($ 65), which 38-year-old dog lover Jaja Lazarte said is a price worth paying for the memory of her Shih Tzu.

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"Although his ashes are here, and his memories are here, it's so much better to see something that really resembles him," Lazarte said.

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Jaja Lazarte poses for a picture with the realistic pet plushie of her departed dog Kenken and her two other dogs, at her home in Caloocan City, Metro Manila.

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Herminhilda del Rosario poses for a picture with a realistic pet plushie of her departed dog Luna, at her home in Hagonoy town, Bulacan province

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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.

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A worker sews the eye of a customized pet plushie, at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province

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Realistic pet plushies are displayed at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province

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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

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