Animal Emergency Darragh Mcmanus on the new series that takes us inside the veterinary clinic at UCD
A new series of Animal Emergency takes us inside the veterinary clinic at UCD. The hospital’s small animal vet, Dr Ronan Mullins, tells Darragh Mcmanus what we can expect
Everybody enjoys an animal story, especially on television. Dr Ronan Mullins agrees: “People love anything to do with animals, and with the advent of Covid-19, the importance of animal companionship has become very apparent. I believe that pet ownership has gone through the roof.”
And this man knows animals. He’s a consultant in small animal surgery at University College Dublin’s Veterinary Hospital, and one of the stars – human and non-human – of Animal Emergency, a new five-part show from Virgin Media. Operating out of UCD’S Belfield campus, the hospital caters to some 6,000 animal patients each year, offering a range of specialist services. Ronan’s area of expertise is cats and dogs, but over the course of the series, we also meet injured and sick horses, cows, parrots, seals and other zoo animals…plus of course, the worried owners and dedicated medical team who make it all possible.
Ronan explains what Animal Emergency is all about: “Really, it gives an insight into the investigation and treatment of animals presenting to us. It covers all areas: my own, which is small animal surgery, as well as large animal surgery – bovine and equine – and support services such as diagnostic imaging or radiology or anaesthesia.”
So how was the whole experience of making a TV show, especially under these abnormal conditions? Ronan declares that everything went very well, adding, “Hats off to Scratch Films (the producers); it was no easy task with Covid restrictions, social distancing and things like that. It was quite disrupted: we started early last year, then a break and finally came back into action again. The producers and the staff here both did everything they could to make it an easy process.
“And most people were very much up for participating. We wanted to show the Irish public how the veterinary profession has advanced, the treatments we can offer now, and the dedication of staff: nurses, animal care attendants, everyone.”
Animal Emergency is a mixture of fly-on-the-wall observational documentary and to-camera interviews. These, Ronan explains, were generally follow-ups, “to highlight key aspects of a case, or queries the general public may have. For me, it was very enjoyable to contribute, it was a great experience. And it gave us the chance to show the cases we see on a routine basis.”
He adds, laughing, “I’m often asked, ‘What exactly is it you do?’ So this was a great opportunity to explain that to the public. I’ve seen a few of the episodes I appear in, although I don’t like to see myself, or even hear myself! But they’ve done it very well, very nicely. It’s not overly medical but you get an overview of all aspects of what we do.” Ronan lives in Terenure but is a Clare man by birth, growing up outside Lahinch “surrounded by fields, although not on a farm”. Ronan did his veterinary degree in UCD, then a surgery internship. He’s now one of a handful of vets in Ireland with a European Diploma in small animal surgery. Has he ever operated on some weird, exotic beastie? Ronan laughs, “I’ve never had anything very exciting to operate on! My specialism is dogs and cats – about 80% dog, 20% cat. We surgically correct certain congenital heart defects in dogs, or liver shunt, and often they’ll be as small as two or three kilos – really small. “Funnily enough, I spent a lot of time, during my degree, with farm animal vets, going out doing TB testing and that sort of thing, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the outdoor environment and saw it as a wonderful career with the fresh air and all that. But as it happened, I never set foot on a farm as a vet. As I went through my training, I developed a love for the small animal side, and wanted to specialise in that.”
Since beginning his residency training at UCD in 2014, Ronan says, “I’ve managed to rise up in my career. Life has been good to me. That said, there are some limitations to it (veterinary). It’s difficult for my parents, particularly at times like this. I haven’t been able to get home for a while, and there’s only one veterinary college in Ireland – in the whole island – where I work and teach. There isn’t an option for me to work in Galway, for example.” He’s been around Europe a bit too: working in Britain for a year, then Co Armagh for a year-and-ahalf, and completing his specialist exams in Switzerland in 2018. “People in the UK were very friendly and welcoming, and my partner – now wife – would come over frequently to visit. Coming to Portadown, then, made things easier, to be on the island at least. And I never saw any hostility or trouble in Portadown; people were very kind. I had no issues at all.”
Ironically, for this man who is devoted to healing our beloved pets, he doesn’t have one himself. “No – long hours are spent in UCD. We accept emergencies at any hour, and the normal working day is from 7.30am until five or six. Once or twice a week I could be here until eight or nine. So I don’t have a pet at the moment, but my parents at home have two Westies.”