Are these the world's cutest therapists? Meet the alpacas spreading joy in Co Wicklow

You may have seen a heartwarming online video recently of two woolly pals trotting around a nursing home in Kilcoole, spreading joy among residents and staff alike.

They were Paddy and Oscar, two best pals who work as therapy animals, visiting children and adults with illnesses or special needs. I was lucky enough to be in their very cute company when I paid a visit to K2 Alpacas in the countryside of Newtownmountkennedy, where they live with 69 other woolly camelids.

"They go everywhere together,' explains the owner of K2 Alpacas, Joe Phelan - also called Alpaca Joe - introducing me to some of the other lads. There's Stan, Frank and Jerry, they all hang around together. Oh, that's Albert, he's a bit of a character," he says of a bucktoothed cutie, who is trying to muscle in on Stan and Frank's bromance.

"They're like ourselves, you have the introverts and extroverts. You have one or two drama queens out there too - not looking at anyone in particular,' he says with a wry glance at Albert.

"Alpacas are prey animals, meaning they are seen as dinner for others, so they don't naturally come up close to you, apart from Sammy, as he was hand-reared," he says of the overly confident little three-footer, who is nudging my hand for some food.

"They're very safe to be around, and they'd never bite or anything like that. Sure, they only have bottom teeth, no top ones."

K2 Alpacas, Newtown Mount Kennedy, Co Wicklow.

Then I'm introduced to the "kids" - Sammy, Millie, Elsa, Barista and Maple - and safe to say, I'd like to bring all of them home, especially when I see several displays of "pronking", a delightful mix between running and jumping.

Their eccentric ways, not to mention those big brown eyes - although one kid, Sam, has baby blue ones - clearly won over the heart of Joe, who had been working in financial services for almost 40 years when he traded the office for alpacas.

"When my four children left home in 2014, it made me really evaluate my life and what I wanted to do," says Joe. "My uncle had a farm that I spent a lot of time on, and after he died I was considering taking it over. But financially, it didn't make sense. Traditional farming just seemed to offer high cost and low returns."

Joe started to research alternative farming and came across alpacas, which are, according to one article that stood out for him, "the finest livestock investment in the world". He spent two years researching the animal, visiting Peru - alpacas originally came from South America - and China.

He travelled all over Ireland and the UK, visiting and working on alpaca farms before starting K2 Alpacas back in 2016, initially on rented land.

"I just find them fascinating and so intelligent," he says. "They’ve such big personalities and such quirky behavior. They can live for 25 years so you really do get attached.

"I named my first alpaca after my eldest daughter, Katie. Actually, I named my first four after my kids," he says, and it’s clear that for Joe, his alpacas aren’t work; they’re his passion.

"They rely on me to look after them and I rely fully on them for an income, you know, so we co-exist." Joe and his alpacas have had to overcome huge challenges together over the years, from high insurance costs, struggling with renting land for the animals and finding mills that specialise in alpaca wool processing.

Then, in 2020, the alpacas contracted TB from local deer, leading to the loss of 17 animals, including his beloved Katie.

"Oh it was devastating, just heartbreaking," he says, his eyes misting over. "It was a really dark time." But thankfully, brighter days and a wonderful home on a 90-acre farm, with the addition of self-catering cottages renovated from derelict outbuildings in 2022, mean K2 Alpacas is thriving.

Visitors and tourists from far and wide visit to stay or go on two-hour treks with the animals. Some even ask for their company on their most special day.

"I started with alpacas and prosecco treks, and then people started to bring the alpacas to weddings – and yes, they arrive suitably dressed for the occasion," he smiles.

But there’s more than fun happening on the alpaca treks. Even spending a few minutes with them myself, I can feel my mood lifting. From the get-go, Joe could see the joy these animals bring with their comical cuteness and calm, grounding presence. "There’s a mindfulness about it," he says.

"You’re immersed with them walking through nature. You have a lead and the alpaca will walk with you. So when you’re with the alpacas, you have to be 100 per cent with them."

These camelids can positively impact our health, helping lower blood pressure and stress. From a therapeutic perspective, the alpaca is an ideal animal to work alongside people with additional needs.

"We work in small groups or on a one-to-one basis with children suffering from stress and anxiety, with adults and children with special needs," says Joe. "They're non-judgmental, and they seem to have a sixth sense that we don’t have."

Out of the therapy work came the care home visits and Joe now works with local facilities to provide therapeutic services for their students and residents.

That was two years ago, and now Stan, Frank, Jerry, Paddy and Oscar and some of the other boys have gone, two by two – "so they can mind each other" – to no less than 20 care homes around the country to bring some camelid cheer. It’s a job for the boys for good reason.

"I don’t mind stressing the boys but I don’t like stressing the girls, as they may be pregnant," explains Joe, who breeds both pet and pedigree alpacas.

"A stressed alpaca’s ears will be back and they will be very nervous and try to pull away from you. So it’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen."

Alpaca therapy can help to give residents a feeling of trust in the animal and love for that individual – something dementia suffers may find hard to accept from a human being. Joe, who has a staff of 11, goes with his hand-picked duos to the care home visits.

"Alpaca therapy can help people positively manage dementia in care homes," he says. "Even though you might be in there with 50 or 60 other residents, you can often be lonely. So it helps with loneliness, and it helps with depression as well."

He has many heartwarming stories of how the residents and the staff respond to them. "Everyone loves when the alpacas come, they instantly cheer everybody up and lift the mood," he says.

"We always make sure when we go in that the staff take loads of photographs. That way that feeling of happiness continues on."

See k2alpacas.ie for more information or to book.

* This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.