Our story
Hi! We’re Olivia and Barry Rodriguez from Noblesville, IN. We got married in May 2017 and pretty much from the beginning realized we had a shared passion for animals. Little did we realize just how far that passion would take us.
While we were dating we both made the choice to become vegetarians (we still are), but we knew that caring for creatures directly was something we both wanted to do. About a year after getting married we were lying in bed wondering what kind of animal we should adopt to live with us in our small apartment. Olivia asked, “What about a rabbit?” and the rest is history.
Humphrey the bun entered our lives in March 2018 as our first adopted creature and he changed everything…
How Humphrey changed us
We had no idea how amazing rabbits were until Humphrey entered our life. He showed us that buns are deeply social creatures who have unique tastes and preferences, and who communicate in many ways (if you know how to listen!).
For example, one evening Humphrey jumped up on the coffee table. We shoo’ed him off because he wasn’t allowed up there. He then immediately threw a tantrum! He turned his back to us and began thumping his back feet on the ground to show his displeasure. We had no idea buns were so opinionated!
Humphrey showed us what it looks like to be a prey animal who feels perfectly safe and secure in our presence - “flopping” on his side next to us to take a nap, clicking his teeth like a purr when we pet his head, and jumping onto our laps when he knew he could trust us.
He taught us what it means to care for a creature for their sake, not for ours.
Because of Humphrey, our shared passion for animals was fanned into flame…
“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
— Saint Francis of Assisi
From one to many
It began with Humphrey but it sure didn’t end with him. In the fall of 2018 we began fostering rabbits with the Indiana House Rabbit Society (IHRS). In January 2019, Roo entered the picture as our second adopted bun. She became bonded to Humphrey and the two have been inseparable ever since (read all about Humphrey and Roo’s first date on our “Animals” page).
The dream was growing.
“What if,” we wondered, “we could get a little bit of land and start adopting not just rabbits, but at-risk farm animals as well?” It was a good question. That’s why, in the fall of 2019, we purchased a somewhat run-down and overgrown 10-acre farm in Noblesville, Indiana and took the plunge.
Soon came chickens. Then a dog. And then, in the fall of 2021, we added potbelly pigs to the mix. As of today, we’ve adopted 24 different creatures and fostered over 65 others.
And that brings us to today. Humphrey passed away on December 9, 2023, just a week after we launched Haven Farm. It is amazing how much of a legacy he left in our lives and in the lives of many other creatures.
We don’t know what other beautiful animals will come our way in the days ahead, but we can’t wait to learn what they’ll teach us.
