In San Jose’s East Hills, hundreds of rescued farm animals live on a 12-acre ranch run by a former circus performer turned police officer.
It's an unconventional career path that Matt Roben can trace back to a specific moment: a musical theater summer camp he attended when he was 12.
“On the last day of that class, they actually taught us how to juggle, and I ended up turning that into my career for almost 25 years,” Roben said.
After attending high school in the South Bay, Roben attended a circus school and then spent close to half of his life as a circus performer, eventually living and performing in Chicago. It was there that his non-traditional career path took an unexpected turn.
“I took a complete, I guess you would say, right turn and actually joined the Chicago Police Department,” he said.
For four years, Roben patrolled the streets on a bicycle but never forgot his background as a performer.
Local
“I'd literally pull somebody over on a traffic stop and then I'd end up making a balloon animal for their 3 year old,” Roben said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
During this time, he and his wife Emily started raising chickens in their small Chicago backyard.
“We started with three chickens, and then our vet called us one day and said, ‘Hey, would you be able to take some more?'” Roben said.
It happened again and again to the point the Robens were soon running an unofficial animal rescue operation.
Realizing how much they enjoyed it, the couple sought a more suitable location, moved to San Jose and established Rancho Roben Rescues in 2021.
“We have a little over 200 animals,” Roben said.
The rescues include ponies, alpacas and tortoises, among other domesticated animals.
“Everybody here truly is a rescue who just lives their best life and doesn't have any kind of role to perform other than living out life,” Roben said.
Though his journey may seem unexpected, Roben sees a clear thread connecting his experiences.
“Whenever people say, I don't understand how you got from A to B to C to D to E, they do all truly tie together," Roben said. "In the easiest sense of the word is I love helping people and I love interacting with people.”
