Buddy & other best friends
Whether furry, feathery or scaly, critters complete many Kiwis’ lives. Here are the stories of some of Aotearoa’s animals ... and their humans, as told to Sharon Stephenson.
James Sullivan, 30, is a landscape designer living in a Grey Lynn, Auckland, flat with three others. He adopted his 11-year-old, three-legged cat Buddy in 2017.
I’ve always been an animal lover and had cats growing up. But it’s hard having a cat in a flatting situation. In a previous flat, we weren’t allowed pets so whenever the landlord came over, we had to Uber to a friend’s place with our cat Jojo until the property inspection was over.
Poor old Buddy didn’t have the best start in life. A friend lived next door to him in Wellington and saw him limping around the garden. He took him to the vet, who had to amputate his back right leg because it turned out his owners had kicked him. My friend also rescued Buddy’s sister who now, funnily enough, lives across the road from us.
About five years ago my friend had to rehome Buddy because of changing circumstances. He put a note on Facebook and I jumped at the chance to adopt him. Not only because I wanted to give him a good life but he’s also such a character – the markings on his face make him look like he’s permanently grumpy. But he’s a really kind boy, almost a therapy animal. He’s so present and compassionate. He sleeps on my flatmates’ beds during the day but on my bed every night. When I come home, he’s always there to greet me and it’s like he’s trying to talk to me.
Buddy has a really loud, near constant, purr and sits on the footpath waiting for people to pat him. I’ll be inside and will hear people say: ‘‘Hi Buddy,’’ and stop to pat him.
Thankfully, Buddy isn’t good at catching birds, probably because of his missing leg. But he has caught three sparrows. Whenever he does, we put another bell on him. It’s quite funny watching him jingle as he hops around the garden on three legs.
Buddy has been huge for my mental health. That unconditional love you get from animals is everything. I helped him and he’s helped me.
Being with them is my place of peace. If I’ve had a sad or bad day, I walk outside and they make me feel so much better.
Kate Mitchell, 33, lives with her partner on her parents’ 40-acre farm in Kaukapakapa, about 50km northwest of Auckland. She’s an awardwinning professional body-builder and an account manager who works from home. The couple have 29 pets, including miniature ponies, cats, dogs, cows and a bearded dragon.
I’m 100 per cent a farm girl – I was born and raised here and will never leave because it’s my peaceful place. I did live on the North Shore for two years but always felt slightly frazzled and could never get away from other people.
In contrast, it’s like a petting zoo here with all these animals free-ranging around the property. They’re all pets and not for the dinner table, because I gave up meat when I was 5. My first pet, a cow called Midnight, disappeared one day and my parents told me he went to live up the road.
But then they served me steak and it turns out Midnight had become my dinner, so I stopped eating meat because animals are friends, not food.
Many of our pets are rescue animals because I’ve volunteered for the SPCA and a charity called Gutter Kitties. I lose count, but I think we’ve got about 12 rescue cats. I always adopt the older ones that no-one else wants. We also have a rescue cow from HUHA who was trucked up from Christchurch.
It costs around $300 a week to feed them all because I make sure they get the best food possible. On top of that, there’s flea and worm treatments and vet bills, which can be huge. But my pets bring me so much joy that it’s a worthwhile investment. We don’t have the cost of human kids because, while I’ve never been maternal for children, I’ve always been maternal for animals. They really are my kids.
I’ve got a good system going for their feeding which takes about 20 minutes twice a day. I worked at a zoo and saw their bucket system, so I have a bucket for each species’ food. I spend about half an hour each night getting their food ready which makes it much easier in the morning.
I love hanging out in the paddocks with my animals, brushing the cows and horses who would have me do that all day if they could. Being with them is my place of peace. If I’ve had a sad or bad day, I walk outside and they make me feel so much better.
We’d like to get more animals, but I know I can’t save them all. We’re really careful about which animals and breeds we bring into the fold – this is a happy place and we want to keep it that way.
Liberty brings so much joy into my life and I never feel lonely or alone with her.
Coralie Holloway, 70, is a retired registered nurse from Christchurch. Following an accident in 2019, she spent time in Burwood Spinal Unit and has been using a wheelchair since. Her constant companion is Liberty, a 7-year-old Australian terrier/poodle cross.
I grew up with dogs, but it was never the right time to get one. Seven years ago, a friend who’d been looking for a dog saw these puppies on Trade Me and suggested I get one of them.
I’d never used Trade Me before so had to learn how. But when I saw Liberty, I knew I had to have her, she’s so gorgeous. In the photo, she was struggling to get out of her owner’s arms and looked like she wanted her freedom, which is why I called her Liberty.
I used to do shift work but would still go for long walks with Liberty every day. After my accident, a friend looked after her while I was in Burwood. She’d bring Liberty to see me once a week and although she’d never been a lapdog previously, Liberty would jump straight onto my wheelchair. When they took her home, she’d keep turning around to look at me, which was heartbreaking.
I never worried that we wouldn’t be back together again. Even in hospital I’d think about how I was going to take care of Liberty and that helped me mentally and physically focus on getting better.
I’ve got a gadget for my wheelchair, the sort they have for bikes, which allows me to walk Liberty every day. I’ve also just got an adapted car so once I’ve learned how to drive that I’ll start planning road trips for the two of us.
Liberty brings so much joy into my life and I never feel lonely or alone with her.
Emily Fawkner, 27, and her fiance Benji Seddon, 29, live on a 4ha lifestyle block in Upper Hutt. They employ 56 staff in their two businesses. They currently have 22 animals, including pigs, sheep, cows, dogs and cats. EMILY: It’s like Noah’s Ark here – we have two of everything. When we bought this place three years ago, we only had one pet – our 5-year-old pug Billie-Jean. But now we have two angora rabbits, Norman and Wilbert; our 2-year-old kunekune pigs; and Frank and Wanda, brother-and-sister highland cows, who we got from a breeder up the road. And then there are the two cats, six chickens, sheep and pigs for eating and Barry the pug we got after lockdown last year.
Barry is such a character we named our new firewood business after him. He’s only a year old, but he’s the boss of the place and is naughty because he keeps trying to hump the chickens. Benji’s little sister got me onto TikTok during lockdown and I filmed Barry hassling the chickens and so far it’s had 300,000 views. I was recently in Auckland doing a wedding dress fitting and about 10 people in the shop had seen the video, which is crazy.
When people visit they’re usually surprised that we’re so young and own all this, but we worked hard to get where we are. They’re also surprised at the number of animals we have, and that we want more, including two alpacas next. But we both love animals and all our pets are characters – the pugs will chase me down the road if I don’t put them in the basket on my quad bike while the highland cows let us brush them. Benji recently cut Frank’s fringe, but he did such a terrible job – poor Frank had to walk around with a bowl cut.
I don’t tell Benji I’m getting another pet – I just bring them home. Like the poor lamb I found in the middle of the road, all alone. I took him to the vet who said he was severely dehydrated and that I’d saved him.
Fortunately, I mostly work from home, so I can hang out with them. Having this many animals means a certain amount of sacrifice and getting up early to feed them, but they bring us so much love and happiness that it never feels like work. We want to have kids at some stage, but our animals will always be our babies. We’re very fortunate to be able to share our lives with them.
It’s like Noah’s Ark here – we have two of everything.
Holly Edeson, 17, lives with her parents and two siblings in Glen Eden, Auckland. She’s a picture framer who owns a 1-year-old cockatiel named Dobby and Asterix, a 5-month-old bearded dragon.
My grandmother had dogs and fish, which is where I get my love of animals from. We also have two dogs, Cocoa and Poppy.
I’d seen bearded dragons online and thought they were pretty unique. But Mum was creeped out by them so didn’t want me getting one.
I got Dobby first, after lockdown last year. Mum saw how well I looked after him so she said I could use my first pay cheque to get Asterix. We bought his tank first and the lady I bought it from let me hold her bearded dragon, which confirmed that I wanted one.
Bearded dragons aren’t cheap – Asterix cost me $500. That was in January this year. He was tiny, smaller than the size of a pencil. He’s grown a bit since then but is still so small that when I let him out of his tank to run around my bedroom, I worry I won’t be able to find him again.
Having pets has made me more responsible because I have to get out of bed to feed them both. It’s also made me a lot tidier and more organised.
I pay for their food which is mainly vegetables like kale, carrots and butternut squash. It means I have to keep some money aside each week for their food. I also started growing mealworms for Asterix.
I blend the veggies for Dobby once or twice a week and keep them in containers. I also have to chop up veggies for Asterix. Dobby was recently sick and they kept him at the vet for two days. That cost $270 which I paid for.
Having pets has made me so much happier. They’re really funny – Dobby has started wolf-whistling at people and he dances in his cage in front of the mirror which makes me laugh. I like sitting on my bed watching Asterix – he sleeps hanging onto the bars of the cage.
I like unusual pets and would like to get some guinea pigs and rats, but
Mum says no. I do worry that if I have more pets I won’t be able to spend as much time with each of them, so for now
I’m happy with Dobby and Asterix.
I worry that if I have more pets I won’t be able to spend as much time with each of them, so for now I’m happy with Dobby and Asterix.