👭🐕🐈 Our Story

The Heart of “Sotto la Panca” — A Sanctuary Born from Love, Pain, and Hope

We are Patrizia and Carmen, two Sicilian sisters, entrepreneurs, artists, and lifelong animal lovers. Inseparable, not only by blood but by the same flame that drives us: justice, compassion, and creativity.

Our journey to create Sotto la Panca was born from pain.

In a short time, we lost our two most beloved companions: Giulia, our brave and gentle dog, and Oscar, our wise and affectionate cat. Both taken by cancer, both leaving a void that nothing seemed to fill. Their suffering, and our powerlessness in witnessing it, opened a wound — but also a path.

In that pain, we understood one thing with absolute clarity: we wanted to dedicate the rest of our lives to saving animals who suffer in silence, much more than ours suffered. The farm animals that the world forgets. Those bred for meat and milk, for profit — not for love.

But we won't stop there.

The sanctuary will also welcome dogs, cats, rabbits, and other abandoned or distressed animals. Because every life matters. Because everyone deserves a safe place to be loved.

Sotto la Panca is our promise.

To Giulia and Oscar.

To the animals we will save.

To ourselves.

A place where no one is "just" a number. A space of care, protection, and respect.

Patrizia is a painter who creates vibrant works using only her fingers, often at night, channeling the energy of Etna and the Mediterranean. As CEO of JEKO SRL, she is also an active promoter of eco-sustainable businesses and is vegan by deep ethical choice.

Carmen is the director of Dirextra, an international group for engineer training. She has lived in the United Kingdom since 2013, where she founded the award-winning restaurant Sicilian NQ in Manchester. She is vegan, out of respect for animals and the Earth.

This is our story.

And it's just the beginning.