One of the better shows on Animal Planet is Animal Cribs, where the spaces animals inhabit are cleverly redesigned to maximize their enjoyment while also offering sanctuary.
On the finale episode, we meet Ellie and Jay who own The Gentle Barn, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates animals in a new forever home.
They have over 200 animals, including sheep, goats, cows, turkeys, pigs, horses, and even a llama and emu.
In our exclusive clip, we see the host of the show Antonio Ballatore design a very cool goat playpen area that mimics the nearby Vasquez rocks and terrain familiar to them.
The Gentle Barn folks do their best to offer cool spaces, but they are lacking activities for some of their animals like these soon-to-be lucky goats.
Directing construction workers and concrete trucks, Antonio designed a rebar masterpiece to be filled in with concrete and sculpted to look like the mountains.
Antonio constructs rock formations and pops in a teeter-totter/tilt wheel and swing to mentally stimulate and challenge the animals as a bonus.
He even adds mirrors as they love to look at themselves while at play! Well… the emu and llama do, maybe not the goats.
Antonio says: “I’m coming in with some cool enrichment stuff to take this another notch higher… get these animals having fun. We finished hanging the mirrors so the llama and emus can check themselves out.”
The bells and whistles don’t stop there as he adds a set of power spinning brushes to scratch the cows in places they cannot reach, and that is a huge hit.
Who is Antonio Ballatore?
“Born with a tail” clothing designer Antonio Ballatore has a huge heart and also rescues animals.
He partnered with Animal Planet for the series Animal Cribs, bringing his renaissance aesthetic to design animal enclosures for pet lovers everywhere.
What he does is turn cramped homes and outdoor areas into comfy, high-style spaces for both pets and people to enjoy together.
He is known to go “the extra mile” as he designs purposefully for his clients and their four-legged, winged, and scaly friends.
Animal Planet revealed that this season will see a cabin redesign for a blind dog, a complete backyard renovation with a pet-safe fire-pit, a man-cave for 20 pets, and more.
Excited about his goat playpen, he says in the clip: “It’s gonna be dope. We’re gonna shoot some concrete for a nizzle… a nozzle, mizzle, whatever you want to call it, using compressed air between the rebar and the concrete. This structures gonna be super durable and last forever.”
He also adds the fun fact that the Vasquez served as a set for Star Trek, Westworld, and Austin Powers.
The video ended with Antonio showing Chris taking cement and forming it into the Vasquez rock design.
“Look at him!” he enthuses. “That’s an artist man get out of his way!”
As Chris said, “it’s for the goats, baby.”
Tune in and be ready to have your heart swell five sizes bigger:
Animal Cribs airs Fridays at 9 PM ET/PT on Animal Planet.