ON any given day, millions of stray animals are roaming the streets in the Philippines. In 2019, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society estimated that there are about 12 million stray animals in the country. 

Hundreds of these animals are also being euthanized when pounds can no longer care for them, and those that aren’t killed face starvation and abuse on a daily basis. 

The struggles of our furry friends are what inspired couple Jae Danguilan and Bea Pueyo, the 21-year-old owners of Strange Token Tattoo, to introduce their clients to their Tattoo for a Cause.

What’s the fuss about?

“We’re on a mission to feed and rescue more stray animals through this initiative,” their poster reads.

They said 25 percent of the proceeds from their fundraiser will go to their chosen organizations, which are City Cats Cubao, Honey Cats PH, and Animal Rescue PH.

But aside from this, their initiative also urges clients to donate directly to the given organizations as an incentive to get additional discounts for their tattoos.

A P100 donation will be equivalent to a P25 discount on the tattoo, and so on and so forth. The bigger the donation, the bigger the discount. 

Strange Token also has a number of other discounts available; clients can get three micro-minimalist tattoos for just P1,999, or get as much as a 10 percent discount on a custom or non-minimalist piece. They can also avail themselves of an additional 5 percent discount if they book their tattoo session for a weekday.

The proceeds from this campaign will be used for the food, medicine, shelter, and overall care of the animals living in their beneficiary institutions. 

“Our partnership with animal rescue organizations aims to bring more traction and attention to them from our peers and target market: young adults,” Pueyo told republicasia. 

“We’ve noticed most of our clients share the same values as us, so we wanted to intertwine two important aspects of our life: [our] passion for art and tattooing, and caring for animals,” she added. 

This project launched during Pride Month is also meant to feed two birds with one tatt, as they mentioned in their promotional post.  

“One for the gays and one for the strays,” they quipped. 

Shared love for animals

For the couple, the urge to care for animals has always come naturally, even before they entered their relationship. And since they started dating, they’ve started to embody the saying “home is where the heart is,” given the number of pets they’ve managed to adopt.

At present, they have five cats and one dog, all of which are rescues. Pueyo feels grateful every day for the incomparable joy their pets bring them, and said they would do anything for their furry friends.

This love that they share for animals can be further seen in how they’ve managed to bring this cause to life. 

At the end of the day, said Pueyo, Strange Token is all about two soulmates and their beloved clients-slash-friends who are filled with love and light for those who need it the most, like the helpless, lost strays out on the street.

Come to Strange Token for a tattoo!

Currently, Pueyo works as the networking and marketing head of the tattoo business, while Danguilan is their resident tattoo artist who also designs the business’s posters and cards. 

The couple both handle clients and run their database; while Pueyo fixes up the stencils and preps the clients, Danguilan’s the one who inks them up.

If you’re looking to support the couple’s cause, you can book an appointment any time until June 30 if you hope to avail yourself of some of their discounted rates for the micro-minimalist, minimalist, and non-minimalist tattoos. 

Strange Token Tattoo is located a few steps away from the New Frontier Theater along Times Square Avenue, and the prices for its tattoos range from P1,059 to P2,500.