Serena & Matisse
ph. Lucas Charrier
text by Séréna Evely
As a child, Serena used to save and get attached to cats, dogs, fish, rodents but also snails, birds, reptiles... Today she continues to collect these animals with her dog Matisse... while "keeping control" so that she doesn't have to live with them all her life.
Copycat…
"One day, while shopping, I showed a friend a packet of kibble that featured a small black dog; I said to her, "That's exactly the kind of dog I need: a small one, not too big, with a pretty face." Two hours later, I saw the photo of Matisse (his foster family had called him Mati) on the website of the association An Ti Loened - La Maison des Animaux, that I knew: he looked just like the photo! I thought it was a strange sign, but more importantly it was a good excuse.”
Slippery…
"Matisse arrived traumatised: he was frightened of absolutely everything. The first time he walked on the leash, I noticed that he was doing it to please me, and I realised at that moment that I had never had an animal like him, that he trusted me blindly, and that I had to prove myself worthy of his trust. Today, Matisse enjoys my presence and a stimulating but not stressful routine. I often compare him to a nice old man who gets grumpy when you take him out of his routine: he hates anything unusual."
The law of the jungle…
"We do everything together! But Matisse certainly has a more active social life than I do: in the morning, I take him to my parents' shop where he has his own drawer in the checkout counter. He then goes for a walk with my sister's dog, who is also "boarding" there. At the end of my working day, I pcik him up, and we go for a walk. Matisse also helps me to look after the animals I have in foster care - the animals are taken in by the association An Ti Loened - La Maison des Animaux are placed in foster families before being adopted - he thinks he is the police! He intervenes if a fight breaks out between two octodons, or when a kitten plays with a wire or climbs on a shelf... His passion is to enforce the law."
@association_an_ti_loened
@serenacka
