An apparatus for selectively peeling a tag off of a strip of tags has a peel
bar
having a beak for peeling a tag off of the strip. The peel bar is mounted to be
rotatable about a longitudinal axis thereof by movement of the strip. A retaining
element selectively engages the peel bar. The retaining element has a first position
in which the peel bar is held stationary, and a second position in which the peel
bar is free to rotate.