George R. R. Martin may be known for killing off all our darlings, but in reality, HBO's Game of Thrones has actually saved one Irish farmer whose business was on the verge of collapse.
Farmer Kenny Gracey of the Forthill Farm in County Armagh considers Game of Thrones to be a "great saviour." Why? Because Forthill Farm supplies all the animals for the fantasy drama.
Think about all the animals you see in every episode of game of thrones: dogs, pigs, and horses, for example. All of them are supplied by Forthill Farm, which was previously having a hard time making ends meet.
"[Game of Thrones] has been a great asset and a great savior for our farm," Gracey told Sky News. "Any of the background animals, the chickens, the goats, the geese, the dogs for instance, or the deer...I'm supplying those."
The direwolves are real as well, from County Down. At just six weeks old, Northern Inuit dogs Thor and Odin became famous after playing Summer and Greywind, two of the Stark direwolves.
"I got a phone call one day from the breeder, who had owned them saying that some TV show wants to use my dogs in it," William Mulhall of Direwolf Tours told Sky News. "So I brought the dogs up to the breeder's house where the trainers from Game of Thrones were and they had pictures and then that was it, that's how it began."
County Down also has seen a benefit in their taxidermy department, as taxidermist Ingrid Houwers makes sure all Game of Thrones costumes are produced from animals that "died ethically":
"It gives them an extra life and rather than go to a museum where, although they still get admired, these certainly have more of a movie star kind of a life, where it does get used and obviously admired. I have seen things that go to the exhibition as well so they get an extra boost to show people what they're used for and how they bring this fantasy world to life."
Remember that for when the next season undoubtedly kills off everyone.
(H/T Sky News)
