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View ProfilesPublished April 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
Bryeanne Russillo's day started at the crack of dawn with a wake-up call from Nate the rooster. Sporting hot pink sweatpants and fuzzy platform slippers, Russillo headed outside to chip away at the long list of daily chores she must complete to run her Cabot-based animal rescue and wildlife rehabilitation center, Nibbles of Love.
To start, Chino the baby squirrel needed his breakfast, fed through a small syringe. The palm-size creature opened his eyes in bliss as he drank formula. Then Russillo stopped by the pen holding her two Scottish Highland cows, Poppy Seed and Vanilla Bean, who demanded with a moooooo to be fed.
"They've been naughty," Russillo said in her distinct Long Island accent, shaking her head as she tossed them their feed. "They tried to run away earlier this week." The cows nuzzled her.
Next she fed Ziggy and Kylo, two 4-week-old pigs Russillo rescued from the woods, who live on her back porch. Then it was mealtime for four outdoor pigs, four cats and three dogs. Finally, Russillo checked on two opossums, Walter and Rocky, who live in — and stink up — her mudroom.
"This is my dream come true," Russillo said matter-of-factly.
Just a few years ago, Russillo, 38, was waking up early to pursue a very different goal: winning mixed martial arts fights. The New York native — also known as Bryeanne "Bone Breaker" Russillo — had a six-year career as an amateur Muay Thai fighter, a full-contact combat sport, competing around the Northeast.
In 2020, she traded in her boxing gloves for pink cowboy boots and moved to Vermont to pursue her lifelong dream of opening an animal sanctuary. Now she spends her days caring for animals on her rural six-acre property.
The self-described jack-of-all-trades does more than just rescue critters. Russillo also works full time as an accountant for a global engineering and architectural firm and runs a small bakery out of her home kitchen, putting formal culinary training to use.
Turning out great pastries is one way the tall, bubbly blonde stands out in the agricultural community of Cabot. Russillo is also known for donning pink year-round and rocking flip-flops during mud season.
"She's just so unapologetically and authentically herself," said Sophia Parker, a co-owner of Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue in Addison, who has mentored and worked with Russillo for the past few years. "She inspires me to be the same."
Scrappiness is in Russillo's DNA. As a single mom living in Nassau County on Long Island, N.Y., a pricey suburb of New York City, she worked as a paralegal. But it was hard to make ends meet.
"You have to constantly change your hat and work five different shifts to be able to afford a closet," Russillo said.
Russillo started culinary school in hopes of developing another profession: pastry chef. She gained some weight in the process, perfecting her meringue- and fondant-making techniques, and so she joined a kickboxing gym. She quickly discovered that she had a knack for fighting. During her first mixed-martial arts competition, Russillo broke her opponent's tibia and fibula.
"You could hear a crack," Russillo said.
From that point forward, Russillo spent much of her time at the gym. She trained six days a week and traveled on weekends to competitions.
Russillo earned unexpected fame in 2015 when she disclosed in an interview that her "12-pound breasts" were forcing her to fight in a heavier weight class. Tabloids such as the New York Post sensationalized the comment, it went viral, and Russillo's life changed.
"It was hard," Russillo admitted, especially when people sent her hateful messages. But, with her typically cheerful attitude, Russillo added that the sudden attention "could also be fun at times" because it sparked conversation and opened unexpected doors.
While Russillo made a small amount of prize money, it was never enough to go pro. A hand injury eventually forced her to quit. Plus, Russillo explained, the time commitment was hard on her daughter, who would do her homework at the gym while Russillo trained.
Russillo first visited Vermont in 2016 to attend cooking classes at the Essex Resort & Spa and was instantly charmed by the pastoral beauty of the state. It was clearly a home to animal lovers. "Every place had dog biscuits," Russillo recalled. "I had never been to a place with so many dog biscuits."
As a teenager, Russillo spent her free time volunteering at a local veterinary hospital. Caring for animals had always been an interest.
"I decided then and there that I was going to move to Vermont and save animals," she said. "No matter what I had to do to get there, I was going to figure it out."
Like many other Vermont transplants, Russillo arrived during the pandemic, when she started to do her accounting work remotely. Russillo and her daughter lived in an apartment in Morrisville before she purchased her 100-year-old home off Route 215 in Cabot.
Soon enough, she took in a menagerie of rescued pigs, dogs, cows and chickens. Russillo transformed her backyard into a pen for cows — which she rescued from potential slaughter — and reconfigured the front and back porch of the house to accommodate cages for smaller animals.
Russillo quickly adjusted to small-town life. She said she loves her neighbors and has made friends with all sorts, from farmers to truck drivers. She acknowledged that her 14-year-old daughter has had a difficult time adjusting to some of the changes, particularly at school.
Jay Cappelli, an auto mechanic who also cared for Highland cows, struck up a friendship with Russillo after meeting her at Harry's Hardware, a part-café, part-bar, part-hardware store in downtown Cabot.
"She certainly knows how to create a first impression," Cappelli said. "But when you cut through all of that, she's a total sweetheart. She's got a big heart and takes everything she does very seriously."
Russillo doesn't shy away from her glam side, though.
"I will wear a crystal ball gown to the hardware store," she said. "I don't care."
Soon after moving to Cabot, Russillo started taking animal rehabilitation courses through the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. She apprenticed under other "rehabbers" before applying for her own license.
She earned it last September. As one of only 25 state-certified wildlife rehabilitators listed in a Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department online database, Russillo responds to wildlife emergencies around Vermont and nurses critters back to health, eventually releasing them back into their natural environment. Calls come in from concerned locals and game wardens alike. Russillo said her daughter gets first dibs on naming the animals and enjoys helping her mother care for them.
Unlike many other wildlife rehabilitators, Russillo is certified to care for animals highly susceptible to rabies, such as raccoons and groundhogs, and hopes to one day work with foxes.
"This is not a job for your average person," Russillo said with a laugh.
Russillo often handles seriously injured animals. Providing a peaceful transition into death, Russillo said, is often the biggest gift she can offer.
Russillo works her remote accounting job mostly in the evenings to accommodate her animals' schedules. Wildlife rehabilitation is expensive, so Russillo pays the vet bills herself and uses a GoFundMe page to solicit donations.
She's been able to raise about $1,000 a month selling her baked goods at Harry's Hardware. According to Mary Lou June, an employee there, Russillo's treats sell out quickly. A handful of people actually call ahead to reserve slices of her famous cheesecake, which is gone within hours on Saturdays.
"She's a good community member," June said. "She brings a liveliness to Cabot."
"You definitely have to be a little crazy, in the best way possible, to do this work," said Parker of Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue. "Any time there is an animal that needs help, Bryeanne is going to do whatever it takes to help that creature. She's one of the most courageous people I know."
That's landed Russillo in unique situations. Last summer, Parker asked Russillo to help rescue a skunk that was stuck in a pipe in St. Johnsbury.
"I brought a garden trowel and some olive oil, like any good New York Italian would," Russillo said. "The cops came and went, the game warden came and went, and here I was, trying to rescue this skunk."
A crowd gathered around Russillo as she oiled up the animal and attempted to pull it from the pipe. The skunk didn't budge, but it sprayed Russillo in the face a few times. She didn't give up. She found some zip ties in her car, carefully secured its legs and "deadlifted him out," as she put it.
"That skunk owes his life to her," Parker said. "I don't know anyone else who would get sprayed in the face multiple times and still get him out of there."
Once freed, the critter scurried away and the crowd cheered. Russillo rolled down her car windows and drove back to Cabot. It was feeding time at the sanctuary.
The original print version of this article was headlined "Ring Leader | A former MMA fighter runs a wildlife rehabilitation center in Cabot"
Tags: News, Animal Issue, Bryeanne Russillo, Bone Breaker, MMA, mixed martial arts, animal rehabilitation, animal sanctuary
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