Animal lover: “I share my bed with 15 rescue animals – and I’d never swap them for a man”

Adri Rachelle, 31, has 88 pets, including rats, pigs and lizards

Adri Rachelle, 31, A is so obsessed with her rescue animals – which include Gandalf the goat, Tatoi the pig and rats Comet and Eclipse – that she sleeps in a specially constructed 10ft-wide bed, so there’s room for everyone.

She squeezes 15 of her nearly ninety-strong menagerie between the sheets each night, and insists she’ll stay single until she finds a man who is willing to join them.

In total, Adri cares for 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 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. And she loves them all equally.

Adri, who lives on a farm and has named most of her animals after Lord Of The Rings characters, says, “Caring for so many animals can be exhausting – there’s a lot of noise and cleaning.

“And sleeping with them can be tricky – I’ll often feel the pigs’ trotters walking over me. But waking up to their little faces makes it all worthwhile.”

DEAL BREAKER

Adri has been an animal lover since her childhood. She says, “Growing up, my parents had around 20 pets, including chickens, ducks and rabbits.

“My father was an environmentalist and my sister studied zoology – so being around wildlife was all I’d ever known. I always knew animals were going to be a big part of my future.”

Adri bought her first farm in Texas, USA, in 2009, using her wages from working in a veterinary clinic. She remembers, “I was never going to be a farmer, I just wanted room to have lots of pets.

“I had a job working at a local veterinary centre and regularly saw animals being abandoned by their owners. It broke my heart, so I started bringing them home to live with me. Initially, I just had a couple of cats and dogs, but then I started branching out into pigs, too – it was a challenge, but I was determined to make it work.

“Before I knew it, people were emailing me asking me to rehome their animals, and some people even left their unwanted pets on my doorstep.

“Soon, I was caring for all kinds of exotic pets – including birds and lizards. But I couldn’t have been happier.”

Tragically, Adri’s farm burnt down in 2015 when a fire started due to an electrical fault, and she lost all her possessions. But miraculously, all her animals survived.

She relocated to a new farm in Atlanta, and was determined to make her pets’ new home perfect for them.

Adri says, “The house came with nine acres of land and four dog yards. There was also a two-storey outbuilding, which I turned into a home for the smaller exotic animals, birds, rabbits and ferrets.

“I took out all the carpets and painted it with wipeable paint. I wanted to make it fun for them, too – so I installed a ball pit, a doll’s house and plenty of toys, ropes and swings.

“The animals all get on well together, but I also made smaller enclosures using glass to separate them – so they could have their own little rooms. And I never let the

snakes and rats out at the same time. It cost nearly £8,000, but it was worth it, because now my birds can fly free rather than be locked in cages.”

And it was in January this year that Adri decided to build her giant bed. She says, “Every evening, the pigs, dogs and cats would always try to join me in my bed.

“It was getting overcrowded and becoming a bit difficult to sleep, so I decided to purposebuild a bed out of wooden pallets. I also attached branches above the headboard, so the birds could sleep near me, too. I’m used to doing DIY around the farm, so it didn’t take long to make.

“I only let the house-trained animals sleep in the bed and love to cuddle them – it’s like having lots of teddy bears.

“But even though we have lots of space, the pigs still hog the bed and climb on top of me. I can feel their trotters digging into me in the night and the dogs have a terrible habit of snoring. It can be annoying, but I just want them to be happy.”

STRICT ROUTINE

Adri also has a strict routine for her pets. She explains, “I usually wake up at around 5am to clear up any mess. Then I give the animals breakfast. Most of them love fresh fruit and vegetables and I spend around £7,800 in food and vets bills for them every year.

“It’s expensive, but I want them to have the best of everything, so I’m happy to sacrifice luxuries like holidays and clothes to afford it.

“I also run a dog-sitting business so I’m never without an animal throughout the day. There’s usually one on my shoulder, in my pocket or running around my feet.”

And Adri’s sleeping arrangements have caused chaos with her love life. She says, “I tell men about my pets on first dates. If they don’t like animals, it’s a deal breaker. Some are put off by it and I broke up with my last boyfriend because he didn’t like sleeping with the animals.

“But my pets are my priority and any lover I had would need to be comfortable with sharing a bed with them, too.

“I don’t care if it means that I’m single forever – my animals give me all the love I need.”

Now Adri hopes to turn her home into a registered sanctuary so she can legally raise money and adopt even more pets.

She says, “I’m currently limited as to how many animals I can care for – as I pay for everything using the money I make from dog-sitting.

“But if I got accredited status, I’d love to build some aviaries and rehome more birds.

“I don’t get on with people who don’t like animals, and while my family and friends all love coming over to play with my pets, my parents sometimes wish I’d focus more on myself.

“Occasionally I get abuse for what I do and people say I’m crazy. But animals are my life – I don’t care if it’s barking mad!”

❛ I DON’T CARE IF I’M SINGLE FOREVER, MY PETS GIVE ME ALL THE LOVE I NEED ❜