He was fired from his old job, so now he sells dead puppies for a living

They have a kitchen like you'd see in any other home. Except theirs is filled with formaldehyde and dead animals.

"I can't cook because our kitchen is the lab," said Brianna Barnes, 27 of Wilmington, Illinois.

That "lab," as she calls it, is where her boyfriend spends hours preparing the items he sold Saturday at the Indianapolis Oddities and Curiosities Expo.

Dead puppies. And other preserved animals.

'I've always been the weird guy'

The denim jacket with spikes, patches and buttons is the type of attire Jared Ruch, 35, says he wears often. His scruffy beard covers the entirety of his neck, and tattoos cover his arms and hands.

It's a look he owns — one he knows matches his unique tastes.

"It's not a big thing when I tell people 'Hey, I've got to let you go; I'm about to skin an otter,'" he said. "They don't read into it too much, because it's me."

Under the nickname Grizzle, he sells wet-preserved specimens, bone art and other odd items through his Etsy shop Gypsy Macabre Inc. Most of his sales take place over the internet, Ruch said, but he also travels to events such as Saturday's expo.

Animals sold by Grizzle include, but are not limited to, armadillos, bearded dragons, cats and puppies.

"Anywhere from the Amazon to the farm range, anything you can think of," Ruch said.

He began his preservation career three years ago, after being fired from a job where he screen-printed T-shirts for rock bands. Collecting skulls and other specimens was a hobby before it became his occupation, but one day, while he was looking at his own collection, the light bulb went off.

Now, it pays his bills.

How wet preservation works

Ruch works with a variety of chemicals, including formaldehyde, alcohol and glycerin. He has to wear protective clothing and a gas mask when concocting his formula.

"If you get (formaldehyde) on your bare skin, it's kind of a big deal. Spills are a big deal, as well. You have to be extremely meticulous in how you handle it," he said.

Trial and error, plus the help of a business partner and scientist, are what helped him perfect his formula. The result is a jar filled with a dead specimen and clear liquid, aimed at lovers of oddities like Ruch himself. 

'It's just a different form of respect'

He reads hate mail daily and often fields weird looks. He knows what some people think of him when they learn what he sells.

He doesn't mind.

"It's all just from people who don't understand," he said.

It also makes him laugh.

"I know myself, and I know I wouldn't harm a fly. So when someone comes up to me and says 'Oh look at you, you collect all this serial killer stuff and all this taxidermy stuff. You must be a murderer.' No. I've got a 4-year-old daughter."

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Ruch said he doesn't kill any of the animals he preserves and doesn't use animals that were trapped or hunted. He prefers to use animals that have died naturally.

He said he gets his specimens from veterinary technicians, other taxidermists, other preservationists, friends and family. He sometimes purchases dead animals from farms, too, he said.

"I get them pretty much any way I can, ethically," he said.

Barnes — despite Ruch always taking up the kitchen with his work — finds her boyfriend's work fascinating.

"I know it's not everybody's cup of tea. My parents think it's really weird. They don't want to really see it. But it's like, 'Well, I think it's really cool,'" she said.

For Ruch, wet preservation is about letting beloved animals live on, even after death.

"I do this because I love animals, and I respect the animals," he said. "I wish to see them stick around. This way, they can be loved forever." 

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Andrew Clark is Facebook editor for IndyStar. Call him at 317-444-6484 or email him at andrew.clark@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Clarky_Tweets.