If there was a prize for who’s the biggest animal lover, Adri Rachelle would probably get first place! She currently shares her home with 90 different rescue pets – although, she’s always happy to take in more furry friends so that number will surely rise. Almost all of her pets are named after Lord of the Rings characters. She is almost as big of a fan for the series as she is for animals!
“I’m a little obsessed with the books and the films. Technically we haven’t run out of Lord Of The Rings names, but I really have to search for them now.” – Rachelle
Gandalf the Goat.
Rachelle is a 31-year-old dog sitter from Atlanta, Georgia, who is living in her 11,000-square-foot house together with 90 animals she rescued and kept as pets. She loves her pets so much that she even has a custom-built 10-foot-wide bed that was specifically made to fit her and her animals.
“Without fail, the pigs will join me in bed and usually dogs and cats will come in too. Even though I built a bigger bed, they all still sleep on top of me.” – Rachelle
Pippin, the dog, Comet, the rat, Frankie the parrot, Falcor the teggu, Tator Tot the pig.
They’re all welcome to take a nap (or pile in at night) with her – pigs, dogs, rats, and more. Even birds have a spot. Built into the headboard of her (their) bed are tree branches so that her winged friends can sleep with her, too.
Rachelle’s list of creatures includes: 22 rescue pigs, 12 dogs, eight chickens, six cats, four parrots, four horses, four peacocks, four rats, three hairless guinea pigs, two goats, two ducks, two cockatoos, two cows, two mini cows, two alpacas, two ferrets, two geckos, one tegu lizard, one bearded dragon lizard, a mule, a hamster, a rabbit, a tortoise and a python.
“I’ve always loved animals. I don’t think anyone is surprised that I’m living like this. When I was a kid, my room was full of stuffed animals because I couldn’t get the real ones.” – Rachelle
Rachelle moved into the farmhouse back in 2015. She needed all the extra space she could get to accommodate her pets. The cost of maintenance (food and medical bills) range upward of $10,000 every year. Plus, she initially spent around $10,000 animal-proofing her guest house so her pigs, birds, and guinea pigs could live inside.
“The birds like to chew everything so we took out all the molding, the baseboard and carpets and child-proofed all the cabinets. Now they can fly free and not be locked in cages.” – Rachelle
Rosie the cockatoo.
Furthermore, as part of her initial home makeover, she rigged the entire house and property with cameras so she can monitor activity happening at any given time and always keep an eye on her beloved animals when she’s not home.
“I think for a normal person this would be a lot of work, a lot of noise and a lot of cleaning, but for me, it is almost therapeutic. I get so much satisfaction from caring for my animals. Out of 90, only five of them weren’t adopted. I’m able to provide unwanted animals with a home. This is my little piece of paradise.” – Rachelle
She is constantly cleaning cages and picking up poop, but says she wouldn’t have it any other way. She has her feeding routine down to just 40 minutes a day. Then it takes an additional 30 minutes to clean cages and enclosures.
“I like to make sure everyone is settled in and then I’ll feed the dogs their breakfast and I’ll feed myself if I’m lucky. I give the rest of the animals breakfast around 10, fresh fruits and vegetables, hay and pellets for the horses, and all the pigs get bananas.” – Rachelle
Tater Tot piglet.
Some people call her an angel. Although, her family sometimes wishes she would focus on herself instead of her many pets, but she insists and persists.
“There’s nothing I’d rather be doing with my time or money than looking after animals. I ended up with all of these animals because other people had taken them in and didn’t want them. A lot of them arrived in terrible conditions. People say I’m an animal hoarder, but there are people who have failed at having just one animal. Here I am with other people’s animals all around me and I’m doing a good job.” – Rachelle
Gimli the pig.
She documents her crazy zoological lifestyle and fur-and-feather-filled life on YouTube as Adri Rachelle. In addition to sharing her animal-loving adventures, she is applying for nonprofit status with the hopes of turning her home into a sanctuary so that she can take in even more animals. Well, hopefully that works out for her…like they say, the more the merrier!
Pippin the dog.
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