Marie-France's call for help

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Thursday November 21, 2024, the storm Caetano, who raged on part of the Francecaused great damage to the refuge Balou at La Chapelle-d'Andaine in Orne. Not having sufficient cash flow to cope, its managers launched a call for donations.

Downed trees and branches, impassable roads, power outages, internet outages: the November 21 and 22, 2024, our region and a large part of France have experienced a meteorological episode difficult and rather rare in autumn.

“Everything happened very quickly”

In La Chapelle-d'Andaine, at a place called Grande-Houssaie, the Balou shelter of the Andaine Animal Defense Association was severely impacted by this Caetano storm.

I'm completely stunned by what just happened.

The president of the association has been dealing with animal protection for more than 30 years and opened this shelter in La Chapelle-d'Andaine in 2003, which had previously sailed between CouterneTessé-Froulay, Saint-Patrice-du-Désert.

It was Thursday evening before dark, says this animal lover, now 80 years old.

Despite the weather conditionswe had just finished feeding the dogs with the volunteers and were taking a break for coffee.

It was then that we saw one of the dogs coming towards us and we wondered how he had gotten out.

Doggie enclosure

On their way to the doggie enclosures, the team will discover with amazement that around ten of them did not resist the snow weight which had fallen in quantity during the afternoon. Posts and fence are twisted and sagging.

“Everything happened very quickly, in barely half an hour,” said the manager, devastated by the state of the shelter which currently welcomes 15 dogs (on 21 places) and 80 cats.

A deceased dog

While touring the shelters, the volunteers will notice that the enclosure for the cats is also partly destroyed.

In addition to the material damage, the Balou shelter also deplores the death of one of its residents.

“It was a 12-13 year old Cané Corso that we had taken in two months ago,” explains Marie-France, still very moved.

He was very thin and had suffered abuse. Without doubt scared by the situation, he made a AVC and was not good at all.

We were forced to do it euthanize ».

Since then, the manager and her team of volunteers, many of whom Englishhave mobilized to deal with the most pressing needs.

During the weekend, after the snow had melted, we could see a little clearer. On the cattery side, we were able to easily repair the damage, but on the dog side, around ten enclosures are no longer usable. As a result, we can no longer accommodate additional animals.

Online prize pool

In view of the damage, the manager estimates the sum necessary to restore the premises to its original condition at €25,000.

“I'm going to check with my insurance if we can be partially compensated. Our only resources are adoptions and donations from individuals.

The 30 million friends Foundation helps us occasionally with kibble and veterinary care,” explains the president.

“Otherwise, we have no subsidy from the surrounding communities, who are nevertheless very happy to find us when there are dogs or cats to be rescued,” observes Frédéric, a volunteer.

Also, a prize pool was opened online at https://www.leetchi.com, under the name: Help for the Balou refuge. She has harvested so far 3 478 €.

All these volunteers count on the generosity of animal lovers in order to be able to continue this wonderful work for the animal cause.

Contact: Refuge Balou, La Grande Houssaie, [email protected]06.72.28.34.06. Find animals to adopt on refugedebagnoles.e-monsite.com.

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