He rescues roosters from being sacrificed in macumbas and recovers abused goats. Since she was very young, Florencia di Matteo has felt a very special connection with animals, which led her to create in Ramos Mejía “the Florcita sanctuary”, a self-managed space where species that are victims of animal exploitation have the opportunity to better life.
The “rescues” are of all kinds, from horses and sheep to cats and dogs. At first her dream was to live with all of them, but today her ex-husband is in charge of the “larger” animals in a field in Exaltación de la Cruz, while she is mainly in charge of the dog traffic. and cats in Ramos Mejía.
Di Matteo does everything. He works in a kindergarten, rescues animals, gives them up for adoption, and does liberation activism. He currently lives with 23 dogs, and finds homes for approximately 100 pets each year. Although caring for species is an everyday job and that is sometimes exhausting, he knows that he can change lives.
Making “an animal that was about to die on the street end up being part of a wonderful family,” and sometimes even “taking them to see the beach or buying them clothes.” In this sense, the activist highlights the fundamental role of adopters, since without them, she would never have been able to rescue so many species.
Many people told him that it is a waste to have so many animals in such a big house. For her, “there is no better way to take advantage of space than by saving lives.”
In 2009 he started using Facebook and watching a lot of videos. Thus she came to learn about the processes of obtaining food from animal suffering. It was then that she decided to make a “root” change and convert to veganism. Regarding this, although not everyone can make their home available to rescued animals, she highlighted the importance of activism for animal liberation.
Two months ago, Florencia was the protagonist of the denunciation and closure of a clandestine pet trade fair that, according to her, “has been operating for more than 12 years” in the municipality of Moreno. “Every weekend, dozens of unvaccinated dogs and cats were sold on the side of the road in the summer sun, in cages, without food and without water.”
“Each puppy costs at least 00,000.” For her, the most unfair part of it is “seeing the animals in deplorable conditions and knowing that breeders make a lot of money exploiting them.”
Although previous complaints had already been made in conjunction with independent groups and protectionists, they never received a concrete solution. At most “they closed for one weekend and returned the next.”
One day, looking for pasture for a newly rescued goat, di Matteo accidentally arrived at “the horror fair.” Upon seeing the state of the animals, she decided to “send alone” to film the place and alert her on her social networks.
The result was a video of approximately 15 minutes where, between insults and attacks, you can see the terrible state of the animals. “In one hour we called the police five times and they did not come, while the situation became increasingly worse. They are a real mafia,” explained the activist.
Regarding this, she said that she actually ended up being attacked: “They threw me to the floor, kicked me and stole my documents.” As she explained, her breeders demanded that she delete the video and ask for their forgiveness to return her things. “I can’t even delete the video,” Florencia replied.
Although the situation escalated with a lot of violence, it was thanks to those videos (with more than 2 million views) that “they had no choice but to close the fair,” because “a lot of people, from their little places in the world, showed solidarity with the cause and they reported it.”
However, Florence soon discovered that the same clandestine merchants had moved to Merlo. In that sense, it was questioned: “Are we (the activists) the ones who have to go and investigate these cases or is it the responsibility of the Municipality that is responsible for making a case with the legal step by step as it should?”
“I got involved in very delicate things in order to save an animal. Many times it implies an enormous sacrifice to have them all in a state of well-being. I do it because I love it, but there should be state support for these causes,” he reflected. say Matteo.
Her Instagram account is @elsantuariodeflorcita. In principle, collaborations of all kinds are welcome for Florence. It is crucial to disseminate cases of animals that need a home – whether permanent or temporary. In addition, “solidarity transfers” are also valuable, that is, collaborating with car trips to visits to the veterinarian, or to a new home.