Nadine Lustre and her boyfriend Christophe Bariou recently spent time at Sanctuaire des Douages, an animal sanctuary in Nièvre, France.
The actress shared photos and videos of cows, sheep, goats, and a horse on social media.
She wrote “new friends” and tagged the sanctuary’s page.
View this post on Instagram
Bariou shared the sanctuary’s story as a comment on Lustre’s post.
He wrote, “The brave and compassionate Dominique, a former animal farmer, could not witness and participate anymore in the inherent cruelty of animal exploitation and decided to convert her farm into a haven for traumatized animals.”
To date, it is the biggest sanctuary in France for approximately 850 animals and is entirely funded by private donations.
Photo / @nadine on Instagram
He said that the animals “have all been rescued from certain death. Most of the cows, for example, were saved right before getting killed for meat because they [were] considered “spent” and useless, after being forcibly impregnated repeatedly and milked for 4/5 years. Some others are rescued baby male calves that were going to become “veal”, only 2/3 months after being born, the only purpose they have in the dairy industry (if you did not know, cows naturally live between 15 to 20 years).”
Bariou added, “Before they got rescued, some sheep broke their leg or caught diseases but instead of being immediately put down because it’s more profitable than curing them, Dominique managed to take them in, heal them and give them the long peaceful life they deserve.”
Photo / @nadine on Instagram
He also shared his experience at the sanctuary. According to him, “Each of these 850 individuals has a heartbreaking story that illustrates how our food system is completely disconnected from nature and disconnected from the feelings and indescribable suffering of these wonderful and defenseless beings. We were astonished to listen to their story and discover each of their personalities.”
Bariou said, “It’s just an unforgettable life experience and eye-opening moment to finally connect and spend time with these sentient pure animals after our lifetime of considering them as products and only seeing their flesh in grocery stores. Interestingly enough, I was surprised to learn that a big portion of these rescued animals is actually turned in by the farmers themselves, who created a mutual bond with them and were not able to send them to the slaughterhouse anymore.”
He ended his post with, “this is the true ‘Live and Let Live.'”
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