By the time she was ;, Ellie Laks knew what
she wanted to do with her life.
“I’ve loved animals since I was a very
small child. I think I was born that way,” she
tells the Connection in a Skype interview
from Nashville. Her organization, The
Gentle Barn ( gentlebarn.org), rescues animals—horses, donkeys, pigs, turkeys, cows,
emus, dogs and cats—from lives of abuse,
and invites people who are, in one way or
another, at risk themselves to come and
share their love with the animals.
Laks began ;; years ago, at the age of
;;, after rescuing a sick and maltreated goat
from a petting zoo near Los Angeles. She
claims the goat blocked her exit with eyes
that begged her to help. Determined and per-
sistent, Laks convinced the owner to give her
the goat, and she nursed her back to health.
“A few months later she was bouncing
around the backyard as happy as can be,”
says Laks. “It was the most wonderful feeling
to know I had actually saved a life.”
The Gentle Barn has locations in Los
Angeles, St. Louis and Nashville, with ;;;
animals among them.—Steve Fisher
For the love of animals
P
H
O
T
O
C
R
E
D
I
T
Clockwise from
top: Ellie Laks
with Horton the
pig; Stanley the
sheep makes
friends with a
Gentle Barn
visitor; and
Buttercup
the cow gives
and receives
some love.
MEMBER
Who Ellie Laks of
The Gentle Barn,
Costco member
since 2004 at
Santa Clarita, California
Hometown
Los Angeles, California
Words of inspiration
“When I rescue an animal,
I don’t focus on their back-
stories; I focus on them
and their healing. But
even if an animal is too far
gone and we cannot save
them, even if they had five
minutes in our energy with
our love, holding them in
our arms with dignity, and
passing in a gentle way in-
stead of in the cold hands
of strangers, even that’s
a good job. Whoever we
come across, whoever
comes into our path, we’re
there to help.”
I
MAG
ESC
O
UR
TESY
O
F
T
HE
GE
N
TL
EB
AR
N
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
Watch a short video about The Gentle
Barn. (See page 13 for details.)
