Fri 9/20 @ 7PM
As the founder/director of Lasa Sanctuary, Joy Smetzer often takes a sad story and makes it better.
The all-volunteer, publicly funded nonprofit provides lifelong care and sanctuary to animals rescued from situations of cruelty, neglect and abandonment. Currently, the Ashtabula County-based operation, which will soon be moving to Wooster, has more than 150 animals, representing 17 species, in its care.
To help cover the costs, and literally pay for the hay, the operation is holding its third annual benefit concert.The fundraiser featuring Michael Kelsey is scheduled for September 20 at The Kent Stage.
CoolCleveland talked to Smetzer about Lasa Sanctuary, the fundraiser and a cow named Jude Amor.
CoolCleveland: Tell us about Lasa Sanctuary.
Joy Smetzer: We were founded in 2010. We take in primarily farm animals. Everybody has some kind of story — whether it’s abuse, exploitation, abandonment, neglect — about how they get here and how they get to live their lives out with us.
CC: How did you land on caring for farm animals?
JS: I started initially doing dog and cat rescue. I was finding there were lots of resources for the purebreds and puppies, but the special-needs animals often didn’t have a lot of places to go. I started getting these “unadoptable” animals in. It just kind of starting opening my eyes a little bit more to the animal issues out there. Through that process, I kept expanding that circle of compassion. I learned that when farm animals in particular are rescued from a cruelty case, there is nowhere for them to go. They require specialized care, a lot of land. They’re expensive. There aren’t adopters lined up for cattle. So a lot of these animals are ending back on farms or places that had sad endings. One thing kind of led to another. I moved from Wooster to Ashtabula, got some acreage and Lasa Sanctuary was born.
CC: What kind of need is out here for Lasa Sanctuary?
JS: I get multiple requests per week to take in animals. Convincing the public to donate and support was more challenging and still is. People are happy to give to fuzzy little dogs that need surgery, but it’s harder to convince people to have that same compassion for animals that they’ve been taught to really not pay attention to or care about. That’s kind of part of my mission too. While we’re a small sanctuary, part of what I hope to do is help people fall in love with these different kinds of animals so they’re just as worthy of love, rescuing and compassion as anyone else.
CC: Speaking of donating and supporting, how important is the upcoming Lasa Sanctuary fundraiser?
JS: This particular fundraiser is kind of primed at the time when our costs are going to essentially triple. If everyone is healthy, and all I have to do is feed them, winter still means about a threefold increase just because we lose all of the grass. So hay costs go way up. What the concert specifically does is help kind of give us a little bit of a pot of money to secure that winter hay.
CC: How successful were the two previous fundraiser concerts?
JS: I think the first year we raised around $4,000 and last year was more than $5,000. We’re kind of nervous this year because it got bumped to a Friday. We’re not quite sure what to expect.
CC: How did you land on Michael Kelsey for the fundraiser?
JS: Michael is just a fun, creative and outside-of-the-box person. He’s a storyteller, so I love that. You can enjoy our fundraiser whether or not you’re an animal person, whether or not you’re a big music person. Anyone can come and have a great time. It’s not a huge venue, so it’s kind of private. We show an introductory video, and other than that, it’s just a fun fundraiser.
CC: Looking over the Lasa Sanctuary animal bios, I’m guessing Rory O’Byers the goat wanted to book indie-folk band The Mountain Goats for the fundraiser?
JS: Sure. We do play music for the animals, and they dig it. Donovan the cow is a big reggae listener. I have a little green parrot who likes Michael Jackson a lot and Jude Amor the cow is named after a Beatles song. That’s because he likes to take a sad song and make it better.
@lasasanctuary
Kent, OH 44240