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

Replica comes with a $65 price tag

Life-like pet plushies are displayed at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory in Angeles City in the Philippines. All photos: Reuters

Filipino toy maker David Tan has helped thousands grieving the loss of their pet animals by creating realistic replica plushies of them

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

Mr Tan and his team have created realistic plushies of dogs, cats, hamsters and rabbits

Customers send the details and measurements of the animal along with pictures and videos to use as a reference

The workers make a sketch of the animal and create the pattern on cardboard which is then sewn onto fabric to create a shell. This is filled with the stuffing to create a plushie

The plushie’s synthetic fur is intricately airbrushed to recreate the colours and markings of the deceased pet

The materials used to make realistic plushies are the same as those used to make stuff toys such as a teddy bear

The process is different from taxidermy, which preserves the body of the animal. So it removes that ‘ick’ factor, said Mr Tan

Each plushie costs about 3,500 pesos ($65). Jaja Lazarte, pictured, 38, said it is worth, who memorialised her Shih Tzu

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