Non-Profit Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T.
Fights to Educate

Animal welfare has been an issue that municipalities have struggled with since the founding of our great nation. From the burgeoning homeless animal population to the horrific abuse cases and dog fight rings we see played out on the front pages of tabloids across the country, it is clear that animal abuse and neglect are up. As an example, according to the various NY SPCAs, animal abuse cases in the state have increased 156% year over year as of 2023. And research shows that education about animal welfare, which has been severely neglected by the state since the pandemic, can have a positive impact on abuse statistics. So, who do we turn to for the education that is so clearly lacking in the general public? New York design/build executive Julie Kelley, Founder of Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. (Successfully Managing Animal Rights Today). Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T.’s entire focus is centered on animal welfare and rights education.

First, let’s be clear what the phrase “animal abuse” entails, as different people view this topic differently, believe it or not. As we used New York as the initial example, according to New York State law, “Animal abuse is a situation where a person causes unjustified harm, pain, or suffering to an animal or neglects an animal’s care by not providing it with proper food, water, medical care, or suitable shelter.” While that definition is specific, it is not specific enough. As an example, how do you define “suitable shelter”? In the 1950’s, that could mean a wooden “doghouse” in the backyard that has no insulation, or real cover to prevent feral animals or nature’s elements inside. In some jurisdictions in the state, that still holds true. In New York City, it does not. But how does one learn this information without peeling through the endless hyperlinks, sub-sites and blogs littered across a Google search? In this context, Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. focuses on bringing communities together to promote responsible care of animals through the organization of events for both children and adults. Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. hopes to foster the practice of understanding and compassion with animals by raising the awareness level for their rights, well-being, and care.

Let’s take a step outside of the Empire State and look toward the international community. Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. believes in thinking globally while acting locally, and strives to support special projects throughout the world as they arise. Julie and her team are dedicated to working toward global animal welfare.  

We asked Julie why she started Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T., “Firstly, I have always been an animal lover since a young girl. I remember rescuing a kitten that was in the middle of the road and being driven over several times. Thankfully the kitten was able to be saved with just a leg amputated and a girl from my office adopted him. At that time, I was about 18 years old and said, ‘one day if I win the lottery I want to help all the animals.”  

As Kelley began traveling to Greece in the late 1990’s, she noticed a large volume of stray cats. As she returned to the cradle of Democracy each year, and became more comfortable with the Greek culture, Julie thought she would eventually move to there. She wanted to help provide education as a hopeful solution to this problem. So in 2007, Julie created Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. 

Promoting adoption and fostering programs that aim to improve the livelihood of animals and support sanctuaries and other projects, are integral part of the organization’s mission. They run a shelter in Greece which works to rescue cats in need and find adoptive, loving forever homes. In Julie’s view, their facility is what animal shelters across the globe should look like.

According to their website, “Our shelter in Greece allows us to provide concrete modeling of how to care for the animals around us and support the growth of volunteer engagement. Our sanctuary has been saving animals in Greece since 2011 and it is situated in the Attika region. We have given our cats a large spacious house just for themselves with outdoor netted space, cat trees, toys, lots of room upstairs and downstairs, a kitty litter room and lots and lots of love. Our special and adorable kitties will live well in the sanctuary until they can find their permanent home with someone loving. Each one of our babies are very friendly and well behaved. They have been medically cared for and brought to health, and they are seen regularly by our local vets depending on their ailment and at times a vet will visit on site. Each cat has his/her own medical record book and is microchipped. The cats are clean, sterilized and well socialized and are ready to integrate easily into a private home. They are used to living only indoors.” 

​With animal tourism on the rise, Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. has successfully launched a volunteer program where people come from around the world to the shelter to further their education mission. And they bring that education back with them to their local communities.  

“I have been working with the local municipalities, schools (we have a video series featuring the SMART family!) and the communities as well to create programs that educate and provide better care for our strays, whether rescued in our shelter or remaining in the community safely and to be sterilized and fed at SMART feeding stations. We are now currently installing SMART feeding stations also at a large refugee camp in Athens as there are many strays living on the grounds and it gives the community a sense of caring for these innocent animals as well. Our global volunteer program and vet internship program are also quite successful. All in all, I hope to make some impact, along with many others doing a great job and that we can all become “SMART”er about our loving and innocent animals and for a better future for both the people and the animals to cohabitate peacefully.” 

Let’s be S.M.A.R.T. centers largely around the goals of increasing animal awareness and reducing the abuse and neglect of animals. For context, animal awareness includes the knowledge of how to practically care for animals on the personal, community, and global scales.  

The organization hosts a variety of events designed to bring communities together with the common goal of facilitating and encouraging the responsible care of animals. All events pair hands-on activities for all ages with education about animal benefits. As an example, a recent charity event in NYC brought children and artists together to create in the name of animal care.

So what does success look like for such an incredibly PAWESOME organization? According to Julie, “Rescuing a stray that would not have lived and then seeing it thriving in a new home somewhere in the world is so rewarding. Working with the local governments that understand you are offering professional programs that can help toward solutions to the stray management is also rewarding. Even in my own neighborhood I now have neighbors commenting on how few kittens there are and how all the stray cats look so healthy. This provides a positive view and less people complain and more offer their help. Also our global volunteer program is quite rewarding as it brings people from all over the world to stay at our rescue shelter and experience our project as well as the local culture for the pros and cons of the stray issues. Many of our volunteers end up adopting our kitties which is great as then it opens space for yet another rescue (which is in constant demand). The volunteers also share our program with their friends, and we have a growing community! When I am talking to people about many of the things we are doing, they say “oh that is smart” and I say “Let’s be SMART!!”  

Needless to say, the shelter community in our country could become a lot “SMARTer” by learning from Julie’s incredible example.  

To learn more, please visit www.letsbesmart.org for the US arm of the organization
or www.letsbesmart-greece.org for the charity arm in Greece.