A Clermont County farm sanctuary for abused and neglected animals is throwing open its gates this weekend, pairing a ribbon-cutting on a brand-new cow barn with a fall festival that includes food, music, and the chance to feed some of its rescued residents. Red Oak Animal Rescue in Monroe Township will host the event Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., rain or shine, at its property on Franklin Laurel Road.
The sanctuary is the work of founder Wendy Lake, who keeps pot-bellied pigs, horses and alpacas on the property, according to WKRC. Lake grew up in the United Kingdom, where she began rescuing animals from a young age, an upbringing that shaped her lifelong drive to build an animal haven in Ohio, per a WCPO 9 report. Sunday's celebration also marks the 10th anniversary of the rescue serving as a sanctuary for abused, abandoned, and stray farm animals in Clermont County, the same report notes.
A Two-Year Project Built on Local Support
The new cow barn, which Lake will formally ribbon-cut Sunday, took two years to build and was funded entirely by local support, per the WKRC report. The station notes the structure lets the rescue take in more animals going forward. Lake said she is not paid for her work and that every penny coming into the rescue goes straight back into facilities and animal care, the outlet reported.
WCPO 9's report frames the barn as a flagship project marking the sanctuary's decade of local service. Lake's history with large-scale rescue work predates Red Oak's anniversary: in September 2018, she assisted in one of the region's largest animal hoarding interventions, when Kentucky officials seized 458 pot-bellied pigs from a farm in Falmouth, according to WKRC's earlier coverage of that case.
Food, Crafts and Music From UC Students
Sunday's festival will feature a food court, arts and crafts vendors, and live music, the station reports. University of Cincinnati students will provide the live music for the event, per the same report. Organizers say visitors will also be able to feed some of the animals during the festival.
Why Sanctuaries Like Red Oak Matter in Clermont County
Red Oak fills a niche that the county's own animal control system does not cover. Animal control throughout Clermont County is operated by county dog wardens appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, who oversee stray pick-ups and domestic neglect investigations, according to the Clermont County Board of Commissioners. The county's public shelter in Batavia is recognized as a no-kill facility by Best Friends Animal Society, keeping its annual euthanasia rate below 2 percent while caring for roughly 800 dogs a year, the commissioners' office has reported — but that system focuses primarily on dogs, leaving livestock care to private sanctuaries like Red Oak.
State law gives those sanctuaries a legal backdrop to work within. Ohio Revised Code Sections 951.02 and 951.11 bar farm owners from letting livestock such as cattle, swine, horses and goats run at large, requiring local officers to impound loose strays, while separate statutes make cruelty to farm livestock a second-degree misdemeanor carrying up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine for a first offense, with courts able to order forfeiture of the animals.
Ohio’s Avery’s Law was signed by the governor in December 2025 and was scheduled to take effect March 18, 2026, as an overhaul of how the state handles dangerous animals, Hoodline reported.
For now, Sunday's focus in Monroe Township is a celebratory one: a decade of rescue work, a new barn built animal by animal, and a chance for the public to walk the property, meet the residents, and see where local donations and volunteer labor have gone.
