Rapping French shepherd earns flock of followers with tale of hardship
Félix Portello, a Vanoise National Park shepherd in the French Alps, has criticised the national park agency in a rap song
A mountain shepherd has become an unlikely star in France after a rap song he performed in protest at his working conditions went viral.
Félix Portello, 33, used the song, Niche à Chien (Doghouse), to criticise the two-metre-squared huts made available for shepherds watching over flocks in the Vanoise National Park in the French Alps.
“No gas to cook, no heating . . . no room to stand up, a mattress covering the whole floor,” he raps in the video that has been viewed more than 38,000 times on YouTube and attracted widespread press and television coverage.
“It’s not a place for people, not even a place for dogs,” Portello said.
The shepherd, a former scientist who is employed by breeders to look after flocks
