All animal lovers should be aware of this wonderful place. Best Friends Animal Society is a santuary for about 2,000 cats, dogs and other animals in gorgeous Angel Canyon about five miles north of Kanab, Utah. The animals they take in come from all over the world, from shelters and rescue groups across the country, and most have special needs due to neglect, physical or mental abuse. Best Friends has rescued dogs and cats from the war zone in Iraq, from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and from the abuse of Michael Vick's dog fighting compound.
With an expert staff of vets, techs and caregivers, Best Friends helps the animals regain their health and finds adoptive homes for as many as possible. If the animal's needs are too great for that, Best Friends provides them with a loving santuary for the rest of their life.
Organizations such as so-called humane societies kill off animals for no reason other than to decrease the excess population. Best Friends has been working for years to educate and train spay-neuter programs in order to reduce the number of unwanted pets. They espouse a no-kill philosophy and they back that up with the provision of a loving home for otherwise unadoptable animals in a top notch facility.
About 30,000 visitors and volunteers descend on Best Friends through the year, some actually taking their vacations there and staying at sanctuary cabins, doing things such as walking dogs and rubbing the tummies of love-starved cats. (BTW, it is only about a fifteen minute drive to Zion National Park!)
BF helps communities establish No More Homeless Pets programs. They are really making a difference and they are supported entirely by donations. Their magazine has the largest readership of any general interest animal publication in the U.S. It is such a well done magazine that I can't wait to read it each month.
BF took in a little doggie from a shelter in Nevada that was going to "put her to sleep," one of my least favorite euphemisms. She now lives in our home and her name is Sophie. Here she is napping beside me as I write this post.
Sophie is a special needs gal: deaf, losing her sight, only a few teeth left and some other health problems. But she's had a year and a half with us so far, time that BF helped provide her by rescuing her and making her available to us.
I highly recommend the BF website: http://www.bestfriends.org/
posted on May 9, 2008 8:56 AM ()
It is wonderful of you to have let her come to live with you
Thanks for posting this.
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