Episode 6 Pet Island

Pets. Don't you just love them?

In this series, we're going to meet plenty of people

who really, really do.

It's like having more children.

It's as easy to have two or three as it is to have four or five.

Our obsession with them has even turned some pets into celebrities.

The internet loves her. She always gets loads of compliments.

We would have a sort of core following

of ones that read it every day.

Our love for them appears to have no bounds.

Later on Pet Island, we learn to talk to the animals.

Let's see if Lyn can tell us what they're saying.

We meet a Dublin woman with some snappy snakes.

He went straight for me.

But first, we're in Bray with Martin and Jennifer,

where love is in the air.

Mammy and daddy, getting married!

Martin Bailey and his fiancee, Jennifer Duggan, love their dogs.

The couple show Maltese and Old English sheepdogs

and have been hugely successful in the show world.

Thank you very much, cheers. Thank you.

When they are not at dog shows, Martin and Jennifer

like to walk their two Old English sheepdogs, Guapo and Theron.

Wherever they go, they are always bound to attract attention.

You called a dog!

In Spain, very good.

-In Spain?

-In Spain!

It's great when you meet some Spanish people,

they understand "Guapo" straightaway. They can pronounce it.

It means "beautiful boy"

or "beautiful", in their country, for a male.

So they understand straightaway, which is nice.

This guy's a puppy, he's a puppy.

-Puppy!

-Puppy.

Yeah, this guy is six. Guapo is six.

If you go for, like, half an hour walk,

it takes about two hours to get up and down

because people keep coming over, taking photographs and...

It's mad, isn't it?

Above all, they love the dog and they love to see how he looks,

and they like to get close and rub him and to say hello and...

It's great to meet people, that's the best part.

It's nice to get all the people coming over and give them rubs

and asking about the breed. It's nice.

-ALL:

-Guapo!

Being in the limelight is nothing new to Martin and Jennifer,

who themselves were once models.

This was our card for Assets model agency.

This is the front of the card and the rear of the card.

And these go out to the clients. These are the shots we had done.

Just different looks, close-up and then a full-length look,

and then, of course, my favourite, the swimwear.

You can see that she has the look for modelling.

She's a beautiful-looking girl.

They asked me to do a couple of ads and stuff like that,

they said, you had to have some photos taken.

So I had these done, and I'm happy enough with them.

But he didn't look like that when I met him.

-He had the cropped hair.

-Sure.

I used to work for a nightclub in Dublin,

and we used to run a competition, a beauty pageant, basically.

This stunning, beautiful girl was sitting there,

in a corner, on her own in the seat and I thought,

"Wow, where has she been?"

So I went over and approached her and I said,

"Would you like to enter?" And she said yes.

Of course, I loved her from the first time I seen her.

So I was doing the interview, and it was good, I could ask her, like

do you have a boyfriend, and all this kind of questions.

I remember what he wore when I first saw him.

He had like a black PVC top on him,

with black leathers and cropped black hair.

And I was like, "I really like him!"

Cos he looked like somebody off the telly.

There was a programme on at the time and he looked like him,

and I was like, "Oh, my God, yeah! He's lovely."

Despite having many treasured memories

from their 18-year relationship, there is one thing missing

from Jennifer and Martin's photo collection.

Looking back at the photographs and stuff like that,

the only thing that's missing from them is the babies.

It's the seven babies now and ourselves,

so we're going to book and get some professional photographs taken.

Obviously, someone that works with dogs.

So we've seen a guy, and we're going to arrange to have

photos taken somewhere nice with us all together

and separately and some with Jennifer and Millie.

So we're looking forward to that and getting it done quite soon.

Holly's Horse Haven is a sanctuary for rescued horses

in North County Louth.

My husband and I started Holly's Horse Haven.

It probably would be about ten years ago now.

The one thing that our rescues...

Whatever reason that they arrive with us, they're here

because they are in a difficult, traumatic, starved situation.

So what they need most of all is love.

Today, the sanctuary is being visited by animal communicator

Lyn Furlong, who claims to be able to talk to the animals.

Lyn has an incredible gift,

that we didn't realise is something you can actually learn.

And that is to be able to tune in to what the horses are saying,

to feel what their problems are, to be able to relate to what it is

that they're trying to say to us, but they don't have a voice.

What Lyn does, you know, some people would probably say,

"Oh, I don't believe that."

But I do believe it. And when you see,

when you actually see her in action and see her doing it, it's amazing.

Hi. I'm delighted to be here.

I do what is known as animal communication.

Before starting on the horses, Lyn is going to let Elaine and Joe

into some of her secrets.

I'm delighted to be here.

And we have the beautiful Flynn here,

and we'll have a word with Flynn.

And to make the connection with him, I'll have to be silent for this.

So you'll have to give me a few minutes of silence, please,

to make the connection with him, all right?

He's a very happy dog.

He loves his owner.

He's kind of stressed, and stress is that he's on his own.

He needs something really to keep him occupied.

So you want a big, raw bone from the butchers with some meat on it,

you know, just to get him - it keeps his teeth clean as well -

you know, to get him going. Yeah.

Flynn was obviously a very good choice for us to introduce to Lyn,

because he has his own few, wee issues and we thought,

"Oh, it would be good if Lyn can tell us if he's happy, if he's OK."

And what can he tell us, you know?

I think this is just absolutely fascinating.

It's just incredible.

How do you do this?

Because I always thought people were born with a gift

but that someone else, like myself, couldn't learn it.

No. We can all learn it.

The main thing is to get your mind quiet,

so that you can hear what they're saying.

Now, they communicate with us in three different ways.

If I asked you just to do a little experiment here,

because people say to me, "Oh, I can never do this."

Will you close your eyes just for a minute, the three of you?

Just close your eyes, and I'll ask you to visualise your hall door.

Could you actually see your hall door?

-Yes.

-You could visualise it?

-Yep.

-Well, that's exactly we're doing.

I say to people, "I close my eyes to see."

So you seen me there, when I had my eyes closed.

Because they give you pictures.

The other way is you can hear

what they're actually saying to you in words.

And they will show you their pain in your body.

So if they have a pain in their hip, you will get a pain in your hip.

Oh, my God, that's amazing, Lyn.

So they're the key ways that they communicate with us.

It's so inspiring that it's something

-you actually can learn, Lyn.

-Oh, yes.

Everything's on energy.

So, if you haven't got the love for them,

they'll pick it up immediately.

So it's the love connection that you can do,

that brings in the communication with them.

Lyn has had a flying start.

But will the sanctuary's horses be as chatty?

This glamorous country house hotel is to be the backdrop

for Martin and Jennifer's photo shoot.

Wow, Millie, look.

We're doing a photo shoot here today,

myself and Martin, with our babies.

We're going to be all glammed up, yes, we are!

So it should be great fun.

Can't wait.

So we came here today to have the photo shoot done.

Obviously, the dogs are our family, so myself and Jennifer.

And Jennifer's in her room getting ready,

she's having hair and make-up done.

And we've just going to get the dogs ready here now in the kitchen area.

I'll brush them all up and get them all ready.

So it should be good fun, I'd say. Yeah.

Upstairs, Jennifer's make-up routine is underway.

But she's not the only one who will be getting pampered.

Each of Martin and Jennifer's seven dogs

must be in top condition in time for the photo shoot.

I'm just going to be brush him up now, get him nice and refreshed.

He's quite a big coat for his age.

You can see it's just nice and fresh-looking.

Yeah, I'm flying here with New York, he's so good. He's really good.

It's my first time doing anything like this on a dog.

There is just time for Martin to get a lick of paint.

Go on, Martin, just a tiny bit.

Just look down for me?

Yeah, it looks quite natural, actually, yeah.

With Jennifer almost ready, the dogs get some last-minute touches.

Are you ready for your close-up?

Outside for the first photos, and Martin, Jennifer and the dogs

are all glammed up and ready to go.

To get that perfect look,

they've called in pet photographer, Brendan Burke.

They look very photogenic and great fun.

At the end of the day, this is what this is all about.

This is great fun.

Just rest your forehead against her there, OK, that's it.

Beautiful. Millie!

While Jennifer poses with Millie,

Martin is still going with the hairbrush on the two Old English.

Yeah, just fluffing them up a little bit, make them look nice and fresh.

They're good, yeah.

Natural, but not too showy, like.

Having worked as a model for years, Jennifer is a seasoned professional.

But Millie's lack of experience in front of the camera is showing.

Thankfully, Brendan has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Millie!

WHISTLE

HE BARKS

HE BLOWS A RASPBERRY

You have to love dogs and speak fluent dog.

You have to know fluent dog.

MAKES ODD NOISES

Perfect.

One more, one more.

That's lovely. Millie! Millie!

Lovely.

I think it's gone really well.

I've seen some nice shots that I really, really like,

so I'm really happy.

Lovely, Martin, that's it, yeah.

GROWLING

Love it, love it.

The shoot is going like a dream.

And as the light fades,

the guys retire indoors for a few more intimate shots.

Look there, just keep it there now, OK?

That's a nice shot there, and again, yeah.

OK.

The most important thing is getting New York and Jennifer like that.

There's a bond going on there, you know what I mean? That's the shot.

So it isn't a just a photograph of Jennifer

or just a photograph of New York.

You can see that she absolutely adores New York in that.

Welcome to the Nut House -

Northern Ireland's very own hen rescue centre.

Where birds who were destined for the dinner table

can live out their days in freedom.

Hey, chook, chooks! Chook, chook, chooks!

What are yous all hiding in there for?

In charge of the sanctuary is Barbara Mladek,

who now goes by the name Mama Hen.

Well, everybody used call me Mama Hen anyway.

Because I was seen as the mama hen,

who to come to ask questions about the hens' health.

And then I thought, do you know, it would probably quite good

if I changed my name by deed poll to Mama Hen.

It only cost, what, 20 quid?

It's dead cheap!

So I did, because I thought, now I'm officially Mama Hen.

And it's on my bank cards, all my legal documents,

that I am Barbara Mama Hen Mladek, but I use Mama Hen.

Hey? You call me names, don't you?

Yeah, you call me names that aren't polite,

cos you're a bad rascal. You are.

We rescue commercial hens at the point of slaughter,

when they're sending them out for slaughter.

We'll go in a day before the slaughter truck comes

and we'll bring out as many as we can.

We bring them back here, we health check them completely.

Just do this carefully... Like that!

And then they're adopted out

by people who want to adopt them for pets.

Let me know how they get on. As I say, just the usual, any problems...

They do make fantastic pets.

They're extremely affectionate, they're really vocal,

and the interaction with them is great.

They're great stress busters.

You can train them to do things if you really want to.

They can differentiate colours.

A chicken has the equivalent intelligence level

of a three-year-old child.

So they can work things out for themselves.

Right, rooster, go! Out of my bucket.

Here is an old lady.

This is our Thelma.

Hiya, Thelma.

Have you got a kiss for me? Have you, darling?

And you've got Sid, the white rooster.

Pepper, the wee, grey rooster at the back.

They're all rescues.

They've all come from somebody else.

Birdie! Here.

The Nut House is open to all.

Not just birds, but unwanted animals of all shapes and sizes.

Mama Hen loves them all.

Every creature on this Earth belongs to the planet Earth.

When you come down to it, there's no difference between us.

And we all have a right to live here,

and we all have a right to a decent life here.

JJ, you'll get something just now.

When I was growing up, I would never have envisaged opening a hen rescue.

I didn't know anything about hens.

I always thought I would open a cat rescue.

We used to have about 18 cats here, we're down to about 12 now.

And a cat rescue, I always thought it would be.

But this feels right for me.

Even though... Ha-ha.

Even though sometimes...

You could see them far enough.

Couldn't you?

Most of my friends would really be of the same thoughts as me

when it comes to animals as well.

You know, they're used to me.

They do say you have to be a bit nuts to be in rescue.

I think it does help.

What am I doing, Mortimer? What am I doing? I'm playing with your lady.

I mean, I suppose I found what I should be doing.

That's the way I look at it now.

I mean, I left a good job with a very good salary

for no income, basically.

I'm a lot happier now, here,

surrounded by 150 hens and 20 ducks

and geese and turkeys and pigs and sheep and goats

and rats and rabbits and guinea pigs and pigeons and...

You name it. Dogs, we have it.

This is definitely my little slice of paradise.

I'm doing what I think I was meant to do.

And if I drop dead tomorrow, I'll be quite happy.

That's it. I've done what I'm supposed to do.

Back at Holly's Horse Haven, things are about to heat up,

as animal communicator Lyn Furlong gets ready to speak with the horses.

These horses come from all kinds of backgrounds for all reasons.

They've gone through horrific circumstances,

like being starved or beaten or abused.

They're coming to us damaged, both physically and mentally.

So the beauty of Lyn coming to us is these animals can let us know,

as human beings, that what we're doing is right.

Biggest challenge, especially with

ponies and horses like this, that have been neglected so much,

is to try and get their confidence.

It's the love connection.

If you don't have the love connection,

they won't talk to you.

Lyn is a great opportunity for us to find out from our rescues,

personally, what would they love?

Who would they love? What's their dream?

You're a beautiful girl, aren't you?

What is it that they want in their life?

Let's see if Lyn can tell us what they're saying.

When you close your eyes, when you're communicating with an animal,

they're giving you pictures.

And then you can decipher the pictures.

And if you ask them what they mean by that,

the they'll give you another, different picture.

He's very contented, Truffles.

I asked him, why was he lying down?

And he said, "Because I have a nice, warm bed here to lie on."

Very happy and contented.

That's good to hear, that.

It's brilliant, you know?

That's what we try to do here.

Make them as comfortable and happy as possible.

Just make sure they have plenty of feed and that they're content.

Plenty of chat so far for Lyn.

But next up are Blaze and Daisy.

When these guys get loose, they like to go a little crazy.

MUSIC: Crazy Horses by The Osmonds

Watch me toes!

But the lads settle down when they see Lyn.

And before long, they're all chat.

Very, very happy.

Very contented.

Everything is fine.

Very well fed, he says.

And his pal.

She's his best pal.

-So he's grand.

-That'd be true.

So when Lyn did actually speak to Daisy in her very special way,

Daisy told her that this is what she wants to do.

That she is so happy.

And she adores her ginger nuts, because she loves ginger nuts.

So she was able to tell Lyn without me saying anything about ginger nuts

that she loves ginger nuts.

So, to me, that's so exciting.

I think Lyn got on great today.

It's amazing what she can do.

There's no doubt about it, she can communicate with them.

It has been a magical day at Holly's Horse Haven.

Where the love of man, horse and ginger nut is now even stronger.

This charming woman is Emma O'Neill, who lives in Dublin.

Emma has long been fascinated by snakes.

And now has over 90 of them.

At home, Emma has her own dedicated snake room,

packed full of all sorts of surprises.

This is a royal python.

Also known as a ball python,

because they literally just ball up.

It was a hobby at the start.

It was just a pet or two.

Then it became a hobby.

But at this point it's become a bit of a lifestyle now.

You know, I have to change quite a lot to be able to keep these.

That's what a normal corn snake looks like.

They'd be from North America.

This is a milk snake. He will get a little bit bigger.

He's only a year and a half, two years at this stage.

Sometimes they poo on you.

They musk, basically.

And it's really smelly.

But it's kind of a deterrent, to say, get away.

There is a little bit of addiction in it.

Because they're so easy to take care of.

They don't demand...

It's not like you have to go walk them twice a day.

Snakes don't need to be walked, but they do need attention.

And these guys get plenty of that.

Photography is the only way to really show people what I have,

what I'm working with.

You're always trying to get that tongue shot.

They just flick the tongue out, you're always trying to get that.

And the you miss it.

As soon as they do it, you've gone, missed it!

Hidden away in his own secure enclosure is Emma's pride and joy.

Leader of the gang, Ka.

This is Ka, he's a three-year-old male reticulated python.

And he's about five feet long, but he will get much bigger.

You get to know each individual.

So you know, if he's going to be a bit angry,

you just don't go near him. You don't take risks.

Same as any animal.

He's very active.

And he's very temperamental. So he'll have his moods.

So one day he'll be perfectly fine and just sit there.

And other days he just won't want to know you.

So we're having a good day today.

Some days, he will just sit there and be good.

Ka may not be a killer, but he's not exactly cuddly.

He's never actually bitten me.

But this morning, he did have a go for me.

I went into the enclosure, and he went straight for me.

He just seen this fast movement,

he had no time to register what that was.

So he just did what he thought was best.

He didn't go for me because he's angry. He got a fright.

It's not like they're venomous snakes that will kill me.

But at the same time, you don't want to be bitten.

You know, you never take any animal for granted.

I'm very much of that opinion.

Any animal has a potential to bite you.

It's got a mouth, it can bite.

For Martin and Jennifer,

a stroll in Bray brings back some special memories.

16 years ago, this was the setting

for one of their most romantic days as a couple.

It was coming close to the 29th of February, it was a leap year.

And that's the one time a lady can propose to a guy.

So I kind of pushed Jennifer a bit to propose.

We came out here on the 29th of February.

We went to a local pizzeria place which we go to.

We had something to eat and we came down to the beachfront here.

And Jennifer proposed.

-Didn't you, babes?

-I did.

-She got down on one knee and proposed, didn't you, baby?

-No!

We've got our own place together.

So we have everything now, the house, the dogs -

the babies - and the clothing for them.

We have everything we need.

-And the next step now is marriage.

-The wedding!

Now, after almost 18 years together as a couple, Martin and Jennifer -

and their dogs - can look forward to their big day.

Yes, it will be a big day for the dogs as well.

They'll have to be involved in everything.

-New outfits.

-New outfits, yeah, for the little ones.

-Dresses for the girls.

-Yeah.

-Tuxedos for the boys.

-Yes, yes - black-tie affair!

-Exactly.

Mammy and daddy's wedding, yes?

Mammy and daddy, getting married!