2024-01-03 12:18:31
It is a story of love and compassion. In 2011, Élodie Dufresne founded in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) the La Patte Normande association to help animals, 90% of which are stray, pounded or mistreated cats, in order to care for them and find them foster families. More than 1,000 cats were rehomed thanks to around thirty volunteers. However, faced with the increase in births and abandonments, the president remembers: “My house in Sanvic has become very small. I needed land to do more and isolate myself from the neighbors. » So, with friends, they came to set up their sanctuary between Rouen and Le Havre, in an 18th century Clos hovel, a meadow surrounded by trees and made up of buildings.
But it was not a long, quiet river. Élodie Dufresne, her mother as well as Yvanie Levée and her husband decided almost three years ago to join forces in this project: “We needed money so we chose to buy together. We looked for a property near Le Havre, but at the price of real estate, it was not possible. We therefore found this 4.8 ha Clos hovel with a large house, six agricultural buildings and a dovecote. It was perfect ! »
But, to acquire it, everyone had to sell their real estate. Two houses in Sanvic and one in Calvados, plus a loan from the bank. “We arrived here in January 2023. Since then, we have lived together on one floor of the house. We have 45 cats and one dog with us. And, we continue our care, our sterilization campaigns and adoptions. In addition to Le Havre, we have more and more requests from Rouen and Bolbec,” says the founder.
60,000 euros of work
One of the agricultural buildings on the property will house their Cat House which will therefore be a place where sterilized, vaccinated and chipped cats will be able to live before leaving for their new masters, but also “next door, there will be a secure space where we will receive complicated animals who will have no chance of being adopted because they are sick, traumatized, disabled, etc. They will end their lives with us,” continues Élodie Dufresne. However, for the moment, in the selected building, everything needs to be redone from floor to roof, “and we have estimated the cost of the work between 50,000 and 60,000 euros”.
“So we launched crowdfunding on Ulule. We are at 11,875 euros (12/27/23) for 290 contributions. It’s a prize pool with rewards such as jewelry, portfolios, works by local artists, etc. All donations are tax exempt. We have also contacted companies for donations of materials and we are organizing actions in the markets, raffles and even concerts. After the holidays, we will start work! » says Élodie Dufresne.
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