The Sanctuary of Château Gaillard

Les Néréides supports animals. This April, it's not just Les Néréides Loves Animals , but an entire selection of products that will be donated to animal welfare. From April 3rd to 30th, discover the Easter Loves Animals selection online and in stores. 15% of the profits from this selection will be donated to the Château Gaillard sanctuary association.

Meet Ary, co-founder of the Château Gaillard sanctuary where they take in so-called “retired” animals in order to offer them the best end of life.

When did you found your sanctuary?

The sanctuary was founded in June 2022.

How did you come up with the idea of founding this sanctuary?

For several years, I have been very active in the animal cause and I met a couple of sheep farmers during an awareness campaign in front of a slaughterhouse in Paris.

We became friends and agreed to free two lambs because they didn't want to send them to the slaughterhouse. Chew and Jacquie had been bottle-fed, and it pained the farmers to kill them.

At first, managing sheep is quite complicated, but we have learned a lot and we are welcoming more and more "rescued" animals.

What types of animals do you take in?

We take in animals that are considered "spent." This means they come from farms where they are exploited for their wool, meat, or eggs. They will spend their final days with us in a little corner of paradise.

Every day in France, 3 million farm animals are slaughtered.

We rescue a tiny fraction of these sentient beings and we try to prove that a fairer solution is possible.

How many animals have you rescued?

In 2 years, we have rescued nearly sixty farm animals.

Where do you adopt them and what is the adoption process like?

Adoptions are very unpredictable as they depend on the requests received and the capacity to accommodate them.

Sometimes we receive "donations" from farmers who are aware of the cause.

But most of the time, we collect them from the pound or the SPA (following judicial seizures for mistreatment).

What is a typical day like for you at the sanctuary?

It all starts with a short visit to the enclosure to gather energy for the day.

Next, I collect the chicken eggs and clean the chicken coops.

I change the bedding for the sheep and goats and add hay.

We like to let all the animals under supervision roam freely for about an hour so they can explore and graze on fresh grass on our property.

We end the day with some care, seeds + cereals and above all lots of cuddles.

What do animals bring to your daily life?

Just like a pet, all animals bring you a very strong love!

I sometimes even get the feeling that they feel a kind of gratitude towards us.

When we're with them, I feel like time stands still and we enjoy being together.

What is the funniest anecdote?

So! There are so many anecdotes to tell, but I think the funniest would be the time we decided to acquire a sheep mower.

At first, we thought it was quite easy, but we quickly changed our tune when we realized we couldn't do it and we ended up cutting the sheep's wool with scissors.

It was several months later that I reread the instruction manual and realized that all I had to do was tighten the blades for the lawnmower to work properly…

I felt so stupid lol