BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – One of Western New York’s most well-known entertainment acts continues to feel the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Jeff “The Animal Guy” Musial vowed to continue caring of his nearly 1,000 exotic animals, but his goal continues to become more difficult as the expenses pile up and the number of bookings are few and far between.
“We’re tapping into whatever savings we have left to keep it going,” Musial said.
He said people suggested that he sell off his animals, which range from hundreds of snakes, monkeys, camels, donkeys, llamas, lemurs, lynx, and many more.
He estimates the care of his animals costs about $15,000 per month.
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this fall apart or my animals are going to leave me,” he said.
A gofundme page was set up by Musial that has raised more than $28,000. He was also reached out to by Cameo, a website that allows entertainers to record a video message for fans at a fixed cost.
VIEW: Gofundme page for Jeff Musial
“Next thing you know I’m doing birthday shoutouts to people at $30 a pop,” he said. “People are tipping me on there which is great. All of the money goes right back to my animals. I’m talking to people’s mother-in-laws and crazy stuff. It’s a hustle there.”
He is still doing corporate events, but they’ve been conducted via Zoom.
“I don’t look for handouts and I don’t want people to handout stuff,” he said.”I was forced in a situation where I don’t know what the heck I was going to do. I had people reach out to us. A farmer friend of mine, Nelson, was giving me hay upon hay. Van-loads of hay to keep everyone fed.”
Others have recognized him at a grocery store and even bought groceries for him.
Despite all of the local generosity, his future remains uncertain. He described it as “scary”.
“Now I’m starting to get paranoid,” he said. “We’re trying to do the Zoom things, the Cameos, the gofundme. I’m going to come out with a t-shirt line, I think, pretty soon. If it doesn’t get better, I’m going over the falls in a barrel and I’m going to call it ‘Maid of the Musial’. I’m always trying to think of something and go from there.”
But if the pandemic keeps him on the sidelines into next year, he said he may be forced to surrender the animals at a zoo and may be out of business entirely.