RIPLEY, Ohio — Sandy Roden called their Ripley home a “slice of heaven” — a sanctuary in the rural parts of Brown County for her, her husband Ray and all of their animals.
“We wanted someplace to take in as many animals as we could and just get back to the basics,” Sandy Roden said.
The two lived in the home for over a decade, eventually bringing in 11 dogs, several outdoor cats, chickens, goats, rabbits and a pair of horses.
Ray is a retired Covington police officer while Sandy makes homemade jewelry. They are frequent vendors at fairs and farm festivals across the county.
On Jan. 7, the couple was at an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when Sandy received a frantic call from her son, Jacob.
“He said, ‘Mom the house is on fire.’ And I said, ‘Where’s the dogs?’ He said, ‘I think I got the gate open and got them out,'” Sandy explained.
The two drove nine hours back to their home, finding only rubble and ash where their house used to sit.
Sandy and Ray found out that all 11 of their dogs were killed in the fire, along with two of their cats.
“It’s not the materialistic things — it’s the babies,” she said.
The couple’s 11 dogs were their family. Nine of them would share their bed with the Rodens every night.
Some physical tokens survived the flames, including a handful of old photographs of the Rodens, their children and their grandparents.
The couple said that friends and family will be caring for their farm animals while they work to rebuild, a project they expect to take on in the spring when the weather gets warmer.
“We’re going to put a hold on things until March,” said Sandy. “We can still plant, we can still grow stuff that us and our friends need.”
Ray said those animals are their family and life, and they’ll be brought back home once it’s up and running again.
“When I brought this horse home, I told her this was her last home … I’m not breaking that promise,” Ray said about his horse, Ellie.
The Rodens are getting straight to work, and finding a way to spread a message of love following their tragedy.
“Love your animals, love the people around you, this world is not the world to be mean in,” said Sandy.
Sandy’s sister set up a GoFundMe for the couple, working to raise money to help them get back on their feet.
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