To leave their union? “vsit doesn’t even occur to us. No way! If necessary, we will place animals with friends from right to left while waiting to find a home, but we will look for a solution. We have already been able to replace many of our defenders.” 39-year-old Loic Lemerre and 36-year-old Sébastien Risso are in a desperate situation. The owners have to sell the house where they kept their animals and they are looking for a new place for their fosters.
It was in 2021 that they founded Faune Rescue, a few months after starting their own landscaping company. Echo gardens. Loïc was the caretaker. Sebastian, the cook. The Covid-19 pandemic has questioned their professional life choices.
A dream of refuge “à la Brigitte Bardot”
Born in Varda, each was born into families who had already taken in injured or abandoned animals, who in turn wanted to care for, treat and adopt the protected pups. “We have always had this passion for animals. I had a very good teenage years, my family collected everything, once they collected up to 500 animals in Garéoult”, admits Loiki. And Sebastien to remember it”“My parents and grandmother had aviaries, rabbits and chickens.”
Loic admits: “As a teenager, it was a bit of a Brigitte Bardot-esque old dream of forming a band to collect lots of animals, but little did we know it would go on to a terrifying expansion.
Sulcata tortoises, peacocks, wallabies, ferrets and macaws: the young protected by the Faune Rescue association often give their former owners a hard time, often overwhelmed by the screams, care and characteristics of these little-known species. Hence, major public awareness projects.Photo by Amber Mingaz.
Specializing in NAC and exotic animals
Indeed, the association has been a great success since its inception. Word of mouth and social media work. “Veterinarians working in the network and other associations called us, sometimes remotely, from all over France, because we are the only ones specialized in NAC. (new pets, editor’s note) and exotic animals in Var. Everything was brought to us, sometimes wild animals, protected species. Up to 4-6 injured birds per day. People used to dump animals for us right in front of the gate, so we installed cameras. Interested people came with their children to see our wallabies through the fence, which scared them. We had to build a fence.”
Two defenders of the animal cause are quickly drowned. However, they were able to save many injured, sick or abused wild and domestic animals, especially birds, but also several kangaroos, parrots, peacocks, a dwarf pig that had grown into a giant, and two turtles of today’s size. rabbits, ferrets…
The animals sometimes arrived in great distress, but were saved in the extreme thanks to the patience and care of Loic and Sébastien, who built beautiful cages and parks in the garden at their home in Cavalaire to accommodate their patrons.
WallabiesPhoto by Amber Mingaz.
Noah’s ark was threatened
A corner of heaven. Unless the owner wants his house back. in 1er In July, two rescuers will be homeless for themselves and their animals.
And call. “We are exploring all opportunities in the Gulf if possible because we have business there and none of our clients want us to leave. We are looking for a house for rent with 2000 m2 minimum land area.”
FerretsPhoto by Amber Mingaz.
The projects are already ready
“We have many projects, but our priority is to find the house first”, explains Loïc Lemerre. “Parrots love peacocks, they scream a lot. People often call us, ask for advice, and finally say that they can’t take it anymore, they want to get rid of it. They have problems with neighbors, we admit that it is a divorce case. People are alarmed.” And macaws can live up to 80 years!
“People think they are doing the right thing by giving everything for food.” The birds then become malnourished and sick. “Pulling the feathers is a sign that the liver is no longer working, it is a sign of their deficiency.” Some owners also clip their wings so they don’t fly. Loïc Lemerre and Sébastien Risso also have two sulcata tortoises among their residents. “First, people get eggs, then they grow. Our turtles weigh 20 kg, but as adults they can weigh up to 100 kg. They need a greenhouse in winter, otherwise they die.”
Fragile and little-known species
Wallabies? “They have very fragile teeth and can easily become abscessed, especially under the influence of stress. You have to be very careful what you feed them. In the end, we almost lost someone we were able to save within three weeks, which is very rare.”
Knowledgeable rescuers want to share their experiences. “We have rescued more than a hundred animals. The goal is not only to take them in and look after them, but above all to find good families for them. In this case, we conclude adoption contracts. We also love to educate. Therefore, we have a project to expand to welcome visitors precisely and to make the public aware of good gestures and reflexes, to get a little education. We had projects for schools, for the disabled, for the elderly…it was put on hold long enough to find a little corner of heaven for our patrons.”
