Let’s Be SMART – Successfully Managing Animal Rights Today
Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. in Keratea, Greece, is a truly unique organization, currently home to over 100 cats and 13 dogs, living in a cage-free, home-like, villa-style environment. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Successfully Managing Animal Rights Today, and for Julie Kelley, founder and manager of this international animal welfare organization, that means working towards global animal welfare, sharing essential information and facts about animals worldwide, and helping people understand the benefits that come from treating animals with compassion and care.
A Smart Idea
I had been traveling to Greece since 1998 and would see the issues with stray cats and dogs. I felt very comfortable in Greece. I had business with Greek nationals in New York, learned a lot of the language, and understood the cultural differences. I felt it was my mission to create Let’s Be S.M.A.R.T. to help people understand the great benefits animals provide to us humans and to educate young people as well. Of course, after a couple of years, it was hard not to take in the first kitty who gave birth, and well, it just grew exponentially from there! Since 2007, we have added many programs and special projects to continue our quest to provide the best we can for our strays.
Let’s be S.M.A.R.T. aims to educate the public about the importance of animals by raising awareness of their rights, well-being, and care. We believe in thinking globally and acting locally by supporting special projects as they arise and, through our programs, bringing communities together to promote responsible animal care.
In Greece, our campaign is primarily centred on reducing the suffering, abuse, and neglect of animals while increasing public awareness of their needs and rights. These include running an innovative and modern foster home, managing a rehoming program for rescued animals, and collaborating with municipalities to implement effective stray animal care initiatives. We also provide practical solutions for supporting strays in urban communities—such as ensuring access to food and water—and we actively engage philanthropic individuals who travel to Greece to volunteer, learn about shelter medicine, and receive training in best practices in animal care.
Impressive Achievements
The creation of the sanctuary and setting up the organization in Greece was a huge accomplishment. Let's be S.M.A.R.T. is always evolving with fresh ideas to make life better for the cats and dogs we have in our care.
Our campaign model is unique in Greece. We have created the ‘SMART Starfish approach’ in which all five arms must function together to create the best outcome.
Each arm of the starfish represents a core pillar of our mission:
Sterilization – controlling population growth at its source
Medical Care & Microchipping – restoring health and identity
Feeding & Shelter – stability, nourishment, and safety
Education & Community – knowledge that shapes future behavior
NGO Collaboration – collective strength through partnership
For years, our programs and ideas have been influencing how animal charities operate and making permanent changes for a better future for animal welfare in Greece.
We created the following programs: Volunteer, SMART Family Video Series, Veterinary Internship, SMART Yards, and Adoption Vacation, all of which are operational every day and are detailed on the Programs page on our website, if you would like to take a closer look. We could not function without the help of our amazing Volunteers.
We successfully found wonderful homes for 73 cats in 2025. I'm not 100% sure, but I would say we are one of the leading cat adopters in Greece!
The “Adoption Vacation” Idea
We receive multiple enquiries from tourists who have found a cat or kitten, and they want to take it home with them to their country. Many times they have cared for them during their stay, provided medicine, bottle-fed babies, etc. This has become increasingly common, with visitors seeing cats all over Greece. Therefore, I decided to offer the Adoption-Vacation as a package. We care for the kitten or cat until it is ready to travel, taking care of the necessary vaccines, passport, microchip, etc. Once the cat is ready to travel, we make travel arrangements with the adopter.
You can see our cats, kittens, and dogs for adoption on our website and have a video chat with us about your requirements and meet a cat if you have already fallen in love (we created a Kitty Picker to help you choose the character of your cat), and then arrange a visit with us when you arrive in Greece. If the home check is secured, we arrange the papers for your new pet to travel home with you. Or we can foster a cat you rescue while you are in Greece and deal with the veterinary needs, papers etc. The cat can travel after you leave with a flight buddy or one of our volunteers.
What better souvenir to have from Greece than a beautiful cat that needed special love and care?
Moving Toward a Smarter Future
Everything we do is linked. The more sterilizations we achieve, the safer and healthier the animals are in the community; they are interacting better with each other, and people know they are sterilized.
We would like the municipalities and communities all over Greece to enjoy the benefits of the SMART Yards and help take care of the animals. Working together is the future. We are also collaborating with some officials regarding some policies involving the strays and to help create some standards for housing the strays. Animals and people need to coexist in a humane way. Not every cat needs to be inside a home but can remain cared for and part of our ecosystem.
A rather big goal is to find someone to help us purchase the property we rent, make refurbishments and sustainable features, and add a vet clinic for shared use with other charities and our vet interns. This is a tall order, but we are looking for someone who would like to leave a legacy.
We also want to extend our ability to provide food and shelter after sterilization so that every animal is cared for.
Things that are uniquely SMART
Our animals live in a home-style environment, so every day is the same as if they were living in a family home. Cats are either in bedrooms; we have a retirement room, a special dietary needs room, and a kitten nursery, each with cats that are selected to share a room together, or they are in the main house and free to mingle and hang out on our netted balconies in cute wooden houses and take in the fresh air and nature, since we are in a rural setting, just 15 minutes from Athens International Airport.
Some of the funniest moments are with kittens and playful cats. Plus, bonded pairs – we have a husband-and-wife team called Jasper and Margot who need to be adopted together, and they are very entertaining with their games and spats.
Cats and dogs choose who they like and want to go home with. We find people fall in love with cats that come to them, and a chemistry is formed. Sometimes a visitor leaves, and they cannot stop thinking about the cat they fell in love with and make an application to adopt. We are so happy when this happens. We have repeat adoptions from families and visitors all over the world. We also have Sponsors and Patreon for people to support our work.
How Support SMART
Volunteering is open to everyone around the world who would like to come to stay and help us. If you love animals, it's an opportunity to help save lives. It's pure joy to see a cat or dog that was sick transform into good health and finally live in a wonderful family home. That's what the team at Let's be S.M.A.R.T. wants for them all: to be safe, healthy, and happy.
People can also help by following, subscribing, and sharing us on socials. Donations are greatly appreciated, as are supplies, and we created the Amazon Wishlist so gifts can be sent to us directly from Amazon Germany, tax-free.
How to Help Greece’s Strays, Responsibly
If you’re visiting Greece and see a lot of stray cats, it’s a good idea to ask around if there is a local organization helping to take care of them. If you see an injured cat, you should immediately try to find a responsible person or contact the local police.
You can also post on local social media groups to try to find help. Most of the cats we take into our foster home settings are from tourists or residents who find our website through a Google search. It is hard to avoid helping, but I would suggest not removing an animal from their setting to a hotel room or Airbnb, and then leaving and putting it back on the street. The cat can get disoriented and perhaps be in danger.
We truly hope to have more controlled community care for our strays in the future.
The Let’s be S.M.A.R.T. organization is a Public Charity registered in the State of New York under the 509 (a) (2) Status and under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501 (c) (3); tax ID number is 20-4051556. We are also a registered non-profit organization in Greece.
Email: administration@letsbesmart.org
Website: https://www.letsbesmart-greece.org
YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/CdWauzUHmsk?si=sE6qsHcqBU6HdVVq
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As principal of Aerial Design & Build, Julie Kelley brings over 30 years of business experience to the table. Her early years as the proprietor of both a successful Florida accounting firm and a Professional Employer Organization led her into real estate investing, where she discovered a love for design and construction. She designed and built her own home in Florida, and that ultimately became the catalyst for co-founding her own company in NYC in 1997. Her first company completed multiple projects for the Department of Public Works, as well as high-end commercial and residential. Aerial Design & Build is one of New York City’s premier design and construction firms, with the distinction of being women-owned and operated. Aerial’s main focus is high-end residential, commercial, and hospitality projects. Julie manages Aerial’s operations, working closely with project managers and handling contracts. Her hands-on approach ensures that Aerial’s clientele is assured of a carefully curated experience. She maintains an active Florida contractor’s license and stays on the cutting edge of developments in her field. Julie’s most recent passion is as founder and manager of a non-profit international animal welfare organization, Let’s be S.M.A.R.T. , supporting a rescue shelter in Greece, and organizing educational events for children, coupling animal welfare education with sporting/creative activities. These works have also inspired the development of an animal welfare APP that will connect both locally and globally, as well as a new Aerial project featuring pet-friendly designs. Julie is an avid tennis player and fitness enthusiast; she holds a BS in Alternative Medicine. She loves karaoke and creative pursuits. When asked what her Superhero personality might be, she answered with The Defender. Her current favourite work of non-fiction is The Power Principle: Influence with Honor.
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