Our Story
Who is behind the Sanctuary?
Whether a sheep, a rabbit, or a pig, animals are the beating heart of the Sanctuary. Here they have free will, the power to go where they want, even to leave and never return.
And sometimes they do, they go away to the mountain, out of the borders. The wonderful thing, however, is that they always come back, by their own will.
There are no fences or restrictions here and the animals can build ever-lasting deep bonds.
Then there are the activists. Wonderful human beings who devote time and energy to help us raise funds, organize and run events, and raise awareness of important causes.
I am Massimo, the founder of this place.
Let me quickly tell you how I got here.
A distorted love
Ever since I was a child I wanted to spend my time with animals, that’s all I asked for. When I was 14 years old and finished middle school, I started working in a store that sold them.
When the circus came to my neck of the woods I would run there and spend the whole day. I used to take care of the protagonists of what, only now, I consider horrendous shows.
I could already see a house full of animals facing the window.
At the age of 30, I decided to take what for me was an important step toward animals: buying land to become a farmer.
I had rabbits, Persian cats, hens, and sheep. I used to sell those animals to the shopkeepers, and even though I could see that a bond was being established between me and them, I pretended that nothing was happening.
For me, at that time, that was love for animals and it was until, 10 years later, an event changed everything.
For many years I used animals, as everyone does.
The mothers' cry that revolutionized everything
As soon as the lambs were sold the mothers had begun to cry in despair.
This went on without interruption for a couple of weeks, and I would spend the night with my hands over my ears and wonder, “What have I done?”.
I had taken away their babies, I felt like a monster.
Somehow I managed to contact the dealer and buy back most of the lambs at twice the price.
I imagined myself in the cages in which I kept those animals. Would I have accepted to live my whole life locked in there?
After these questions and after reading up on what happens in slaughterhouses, I decided that I would no longer eat a piece of meat. I would no longer contribute to that sick system.
Today, more than 10 years later, for the nearly 500 animals I live with I am the hope they can still enjoy the life they love so much.
Here at the Sanctuary, the days are not marked by the clock invented by humans, but by the natural clock of each animal.
Now that house with animals facing the window that I dreamed of as a child is a reality.
Every inhabitant in the Sanctuary gets in line. Always in the same order, always at the same time.
When an animal is well, it never misses its appointment at the window.
Alongside the animals
For people who come here for the first time, it is a surreal place. They are often afraid of it but then they don’t want to leave.
Those days for many represent the fork in the road that leads them to a life where animals are companions and no longer food.
Days when you don't come just to spend time. You come to take a stand alongside the animals.
500 rescued animals may seem like a lot, but they are just a symbol.
Billions of them are still being killed every day and if we want to make a change all of us together, there is still a long way to go.
We have a mission that we will always carry on, and if you want, you can help us along the way in many different ways.
Click below to find out how you can support us.