Philippine toy maker creates life-like plushies of deceased pets for grieving owners using synthetic fur and customer-provided photos.

David Tan, a toy maker in the Philippines, is inundated with requests from grieving pet owners asking him to create stuffed replicas of their deceased animals. Tan and his team use photographs of the pets to create life-like stuffed toys using synthetic fur, which is airbrushed to reproduce the creatures’ colors and physical characteristics. The process is distinct from taxidermy, which involves preserving an animal’s body. Each toy costs around $65 USD, a price pet owners are willing to pay for the memory of their beloved animals.