What’s not to love about Molly the Magpie and Peggy the Staffy? But scratch the surface, and you’ll find a circus-sideshow some even have the temerity to call a scam. Andrew Gardiner reports from the battle zone.
It has all the ingredients of a culture wars cause célèbre: an overbearing ‘Nanny State’, curtailing the freedom of an average Aussie couple who reportedly rescued ‘Molly’, a loveable abandoned magpie-turned internet sensation.
Then there’s the narrators: shock jocks anxious as always to parlay controversy into ratings, country crooners clambering aboard this burgeoning bandwagon and a state Premier determined to distract punters from headlines of a youth crime ‘crisis’.
The only thing missing was a side hustle. Or was it?
Shock jocks politicians and celebrities rallied behind the couple that re-homed Molly the Magpie
For anyone who’s just emerged from a coma, here’s the tale of Peggy and Molly, unlikely interspecies ‘intimates’ who took
Australia by storm. Who better to kick us off with the tabloid side of this tale than The Project’s Sarah Harris: “Molly the Magpie and Peggy the Staffy might seem like a strange pair, but from the moment paw touched claw, their unlikely friendship began to blossom.”
Molly, the abandoned magpie who fell from a tree back in 2020, was adopted by a couple from the Gold Coast hinterland, Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, who owned of the other star of this show, Peggy, a Blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
“The little bird soon formed an unbreakable bond with Peggy, along with their other Staffy, Ruby … even learning to speak their language [by barking],” Harris gushed on Channel 10.
Enter (stage left) the villain
Of course, every good yarn needs a villain. Enter Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI), which seized Molly in March, saying the couple didn’t have the required permit to care for native wildlife.
Cue the inevitable outcry from politicians, celebrities and media, which in turn generated 150,000 signatures on multiple petitions. Ever the spruiker, then-Queensland Premier Steven Miles weighed in, calling for a “common sense” solution from DESI and pushing for a happy ending for Molly’s legion of fans.
Queensland Premier Stephen Miles with Peggy and Molly, Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen
By mid-April, politics had trumped policy. “This morning (DESI) advised me that Juliette and Reece can secure the appropriate license (for Molly),” Miles announced, before heading to the family’s home for a grinning photo shoot (above) with the magpie perched on his shoulder.
The tug-of-war for Molly is far from over after a conservation-conscious litigant had a win in the Supreme Court, but the Magpie (who is male, despite the name) remains with the couple. In what remains a delicate dance for politicians and bureaucrats, his fate may ultimately rest with Queensland’s new Premier, David Crisafulli.
Go forth and FundMe
A cause is not a cause these days without a GoFundMe (and merch). Books, scarves, a crowdfunding page and a planned animated series are shown here.
Peggy and Molly tick all the social media boxes: they’re cute, they’re cuddly and they perform for the cameras. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the pair have amassed more than two million followers across the platforms of Meta.
Like death, taxes and the monetisation of a Facebook phenomenon, along came the merchandise. And a book, Be Kind, Be Humble, Be Happy, is by most accounts doing a brisk trade at Amazon, Penguin and Angus & Robertson, from around $14 to $25 a pop.
Then there’s scarves, bandanas and, I kid you not, Peggy and Molly: the animated series. The merch features words commonly associated with the pair and images not of them but, rather, caricatures derived from “artistic inspiration” (creative license) which skirts DESI restrictions on using Molly for commercial gain.
A house in it
But the pièce de résistance was a crowdfunding page – “Peggy and Molly: Interspecies Friendship” – which has raised more than $100 thousand dollars from across the globe. Organised by a third party, the GoFundMe aimed to help Juliette and Reece buy their then-Coomera home after the landlord gave them notice so he could auction the place.
“They always had plans to buy the rental home, but with the previously unseen rise in housing prices, it’s just no longer a viable possibility. Molly has grown up in their home (and he) is now following his natural instinct and being very territorial, which hinders the family from being able to relocate,” the GoFundMe page read.
So there you have it: the six figure sum was for Molly the Magpie, not Juliette and Reece, but $100k wasn’t nearly enough to buy the house or stave off their moving out. So much for Molly’s “territorial instincts”.
What will happen to the $100k? It’s believed the couple are “renting to buy” another place not far from Molly’s original home, but with housing prices going through the roof and the GoFundMe no longer accepting donations, they’re at long odds to afford this place too.
DESI arcs up
In April, DESI laid down strict conditions for Molly’s staying with the couple, including that they “not conduct activities for commercial purposes with the magpie”. So what happens to the proceeds from all this commerce?
“The magpie’s real image, photograph and the bird himself cannot make a profit (and) we are mindful that no images of the real magpie be included in any way other than artistic inspiration,” the couple’s Sydney-based manager said, referring to the animated series and, presumably, the merch.
So far, DESI has accepted this “creative license” explanation* but does it pass the pub test?
MWM reached out to both the couple and their manager, Chelsea Bonner, for an answer to these and other questions, but had not heard back by publication time. We are not suggesting any of the trio have acted unethically, illegally or in breach of the DESI agreement with these merchandising and fundraising activities.
Vicious cycle: how internet trends drive the legally-dubious market in wild animals like Molly the Magpie (right). Images: Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACA, left) and Facebook
Of course, Peggy and Molly’s ‘mateship’ isn’t all barking and belly scratches. Sources from the world of ornithology have told MWM that Molly is hard wired to be “the boss” of any pecking order and is almost-certainly territorial in his daily dealings with Peggy.
“Molly’s instinct will be to harass (dominate) Peggy, but the dog won’t put up with this forever. The moment Peggy loses patience, Molly could actually be done for,” one knowledgeable source told MWM.
Whether or not he’s happy at the couple’s home, as the tabloid narrative suggests, the fact remains Molly was taken from his natural environment (accounts differ on whether he was ‘rescued’) before being placed in alien surrounds, assimilated with a small pack of dogs and unveiled as a performing, barking internet oddity.
The Big Top
“There are parallels between Molly’s fate and that of a circus animal. Sure, he doesn’t have a chain through his snout (beak) but he’s entertaining and amusing audiences as if he’s under the big top,” one source told MWM.
Then there’s the issue of copy-catting, and the normalisation of keeping wildlife at home. According to SMACA, monkeys dressed in baby clothes (which you can find on the internet) or magpies with their wings clipped are often “suffering, manipulated for the camera and living in unnatural conditions.”
“Yet, these videos and images are portrayed as ‘cute’ and funny. Worryingly, they are also promoting the keeping of wild animals, meaning more people are likely to buy them as pets, causing more suffering,” SMACA’s website added (see flowchart above).
“The reason why (Molly’s) case is important is (that it’s) a precedent to all Australians that you can do this. If you get enough likes on social media, the government will override its own experts and start saying, ‘it’s fine’,” lawyer Jack Vaughan, who was involved in the recent Supreme Court case, said.
The pub test
‘Molly the Magpie’ isn’t up there with black emancipation or the suffragette movement as a cause to inspire the masses, but it did entertain, amuse and, later, anger punters when the so-called ‘Nanny State’ got involved. Have Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen followed the path Eric Hoffer (above) described, by taking their own mini-movement and turning it into “a racket”?
We’ll have the answer to that when we know two things. First, what will happen to $100k crowdfunding dollars, ostensibly to buy Molly a ‘forever home’ but perhaps not even enough for a deposit.
The second question is whether DESI – which may yet seize Molly back after courts revoked the couple’s license – belatedly stiffens its stance on “artistically inspired” ‘Peggy and Molly’ merch.
Does it pass the aforementioned pub test, or is it, in fact, a grift? Perhaps politics will decide.
Editor’s Note: the book Be Kind, Be Humble, Be Happy appears to show actual images of Peggy and Molly, but MWM was unable to confirm this.
An Adelaide-based graduate in Media Studies, with a Masters in Social Policy, I was an editor who covered current affairs, local government and sports for various publications before deciding on a change-of-vocation in 2002.