Marion Wheatland could be called a ‘crazy cat lady’ or simply a ‘dog lover,’ but her love for pets has turned into a money-maker thanks to high demand for her sweaters and scarves made out of animal fur.
The Melburnian said her products have become more popular in the past 12 months as people flock to have their pet fur turned into clothes.
“People think it’s creepy, but it’s not creepy,” Wheatland told the Daily Mail. “People who think it’s creepy don’t have a pet, they don’t have a connection with an animal.”
The clothes maker says she has clients from all over Australia, with customers sending bags of their pet’s fur over for her to spin.
“Hair is personal and yet impersonal. People will have a photograph in a necklace, why not carry your pet around with you in a scarf?”
One client got yarn made from her dog’s fur after the poodle died.
“It really broke my heart because I didn’t have anything from him,” May Battista told TV show The Project. “So when I got my new dog Mango, I just wanted to keep something because I know the lives of animals are very short."
Wheatland doesn’t just stick to cat and dog fur either.
She is also experimenting with horse and bison fiber, but said she has not tried using human hair yet.
Some dogs, however, prefer normal yarn instead of using their own fur.