Ellie Laks Founder of the Gentle Barn Foundation

Ellie Laks founded The Gentle Barn in 1999. She invented her own “gentle healing method” that allows old, sick, injured and terrified animals to fully recover using a combination of Western medicine, holistic modalities, holding therapy, and lots of love.

Jay Weiner joined The Gentle Barn in 2002 as a volunteer but fell in love with the place and the two joined forces to heal even more children and animals together. Like Ellie, Jay also turned to animals for the support, love, and nurturing he needed as a child.

The Gentle Barn Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with the same stories of abuse and neglect. She is a celebrated animal welfare advocate, humane educator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal, and Children Learn to Hope.

Ellie is an expert in rehabilitating orphaned and sick animals.  Since its inception, The Gentle Barn has saved thousands of animals and been host to over 500,000 people.

The Gentle Barn is currently home to approximately 200 animals and has grown to include three locations; outside Los Angeles, California, Nashville Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Since its inception, The Gentle Barn has saved thousands of animals and been host to over 500,000 people.

Ellie’s goal is to open Gentle Barns in every state so that everyone in America can have the opportunity to hug a cow, cuddle a turkey, or give a pig a tummy rub.