Best Friends Animal Society
Encyclopedia
Best Friends Animal Society, founded in its present form in 1984, is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is one of America’s best known animal welfare rescue groups. Best Friends works in outreach programs with shelters, other rescue groups and members nationwide to promote pet adoption, spay-and-neuter services, and humane education programs around the country. A key component of Best Friends’ work is operating Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the nation’s largest no-kill safe haven for displaced, homeless or unwanted domestic animals, located in Southwestern Utah
near the town of Kanab
. The hour-long series DogTown
, filmed at the sanctuary, is the story of Best Friends' ongoing work with dogs. The series debuted on the National Geographic Channel
Jan. 4, 2008.
.
Best Friends never accepted the conventional wisdom that humane societies and shelters "have no choice" but to euthanize animals deemed "unadoptable." The original founders began a program whereby they rescued soon-to-be-killed dogs and cats from shelters, rehabilitated them, and found them new homes. Those not adopted formed an eccentric assortment of creatures whose numbers grew until, in 1986, the group established Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on a large plot of land five miles (8 km) north of Kanab, Utah, only six miles from the Arizona border.
In 1991, Best Friends became a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity and quickly grew to be the flagship of the rapidly growing no-kill movement
throughout the 1990s. Articulating its goal of “No More Homeless Pets,” became central to the group’s work, and by the end of the 1990s, the number of animals killed in shelters had dropped from about 15 million in 1990 to less than 5 million.
In August 2011, the City of Los Angeles
handed over to Best Friends the operation and management of its Northeast Valley Shelter, which the city could no longer afford to operate. Under the contract, Best Friends is to provide adoptions for shelter animals and spay and neuter services for the community.
. It is located in Angel Canyon (formerly Kanab Canyon), about five miles (8 km) north of Kanab, Utah
, at the heart of the famous “Golden Circle” of Zion National Park
, the Grand Canyon's North Rim, Bryce Canyon National Park
, and Lake Powell
. The land in and around the town of Kanab is famous as a backdrop for dozens of western movies and television shows dating back to the 1940s. Among the many dramas filmed in the area were "The Lone Ranger" television series and the movies McKenna's Gold and The Outlaw Josey Wales.
The sanctuary is home to approximately 1,700 animals, most of which are dogs and cats; but the sanctuary also houses horses, burros
, birds, rabbits, goats and pot-bellied pigs. Animal
s arrive at the sanctuary from throughout the United States and abroad, primarily from shelters that don’t have the resources to keep them and from shelters where they would otherwise be killed. A primary goal at Best Friends is to help the animals find good homes with permanent or foster families; but if they are not adopted, they live permanently at the sanctuary.
Best Friends is the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary, which means that animals, regardless of illness or handicap, can live out their lives in peace. Animals are only put down in cases of terminal and/or extremely painful illness—only when compassion requires euthanasia because there is no reasonable alternative.
The group also publishes Best Friends, a bimonthly magazine with articles about animals, animal welfare, news and photos of animal-related events, and activities at the sanctuary. As of 2009, the magazine had some 300,000 subscribers.
operations was that of a primary animal rescue organization. Best Friends was responsible for rescuing and caring for about 4,000 of those animals and helped transport another 2,000 to new locations for adoptions. Animals in the care of Best Friends were reunited with their families, placed in new homes, or brought to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for continuing care.
Best Friends’ rapid response teams entered the hurricane disaster area on September 2, 2005 and worked for 249 days in and around New Orleans. During the course of the group’s work, it expanded search-and-rescue operations to include St. Bernard and Orleans parishes and worked in concert with various law enforcement officials, the National Guard, and the U.S. Army’s
82nd Airborne Division.
Best Friends’ main operations base for search and rescue was on the grounds of St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Mississippi
. The group operated a second rescue shelter at Celebration Station, a former arcade, in Metairie, Louisiana
and worked with the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi to transport animals brought to their shelter to foster and adoption groups across the country. Utilizing volunteers from across North America, including veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and information technology experts, Best Friends was able to make a major contribution to the hurricane relief effort.
Since Katrina, Best Friends has expanded its animal rescue work by providing the staff and resources to help revitalize an Pets Alive animal shelter in New York state, rescue approximately 800 cats from an institutional hoarding situation in Nevada, and provide expertise and assist local animal rescue groups in the aftermath of the Peruvian earthquakes of 2007
. Best Friends also gave refuge and lifetime care and rehabilitation to 22 of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick's
most abused dogs from unlawful dog fighting
activities. In December 2008, Georgia, one of the former fighting dogs, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show with Best Friends' dog trainer John Garcia. The two also appeared on CNN
's "Larry King Live
" show.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
near the town of Kanab
Kanab, Utah
Kanab is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States. The area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Mormon families moved into the area. The population was 3,564 at the 2000 census...
. The hour-long series DogTown
DogTown
DogTown is a National Geographic Channel series set at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a animal facility in southern Utah. It is a documentary-style program that profiles staff and volunteers as they care for dogs in need of a home. Many animals featured are severely abused or neglected, or in...
, filmed at the sanctuary, is the story of Best Friends' ongoing work with dogs. The series debuted on the National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
Jan. 4, 2008.
History
What became known as the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary originated in Arizona in the 1970s, developing from a charitable retreat set up by The Foundation, a group formerly known as the Process Church of the Final JudgmentThe Process Church of The Final Judgment
The Process, or in full, The Process Church of the Final Judgment, commonly known by non-members as the Process Church, was a religious group that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, founded by the English couple Mary Anne and Robert DeGrimston...
.
Best Friends never accepted the conventional wisdom that humane societies and shelters "have no choice" but to euthanize animals deemed "unadoptable." The original founders began a program whereby they rescued soon-to-be-killed dogs and cats from shelters, rehabilitated them, and found them new homes. Those not adopted formed an eccentric assortment of creatures whose numbers grew until, in 1986, the group established Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on a large plot of land five miles (8 km) north of Kanab, Utah, only six miles from the Arizona border.
In 1991, Best Friends became a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity and quickly grew to be the flagship of the rapidly growing no-kill movement
No-kill Shelter
A kill shelter is an animal shelter where animals are euthanized if they are too sick to be treated or too aggressive to be suitable for adoption or due to lack of shelter space...
throughout the 1990s. Articulating its goal of “No More Homeless Pets,” became central to the group’s work, and by the end of the 1990s, the number of animals killed in shelters had dropped from about 15 million in 1990 to less than 5 million.
In August 2011, the City of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until...
handed over to Best Friends the operation and management of its Northeast Valley Shelter, which the city could no longer afford to operate. Under the contract, Best Friends is to provide adoptions for shelter animals and spay and neuter services for the community.
The sanctuary
The sanctuary covers 3700 acres (15 km²) owned by Best Friends, with an additional 33000 acres (133.5 km²) leased from the United States Bureau of Land ManagementBureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. It is located in Angel Canyon (formerly Kanab Canyon), about five miles (8 km) north of Kanab, Utah
Kanab, Utah
Kanab is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States. The area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Mormon families moved into the area. The population was 3,564 at the 2000 census...
, at the heart of the famous “Golden Circle” of Zion National Park
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River...
, the Grand Canyon's North Rim, Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau...
, and Lake Powell
Lake Powell
Lake Powell is a huge reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona . It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States behind Lake Mead, storing of water when full...
. The land in and around the town of Kanab is famous as a backdrop for dozens of western movies and television shows dating back to the 1940s. Among the many dramas filmed in the area were "The Lone Ranger" television series and the movies McKenna's Gold and The Outlaw Josey Wales.
The sanctuary is home to approximately 1,700 animals, most of which are dogs and cats; but the sanctuary also houses horses, burros
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
, birds, rabbits, goats and pot-bellied pigs. Animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s arrive at the sanctuary from throughout the United States and abroad, primarily from shelters that don’t have the resources to keep them and from shelters where they would otherwise be killed. A primary goal at Best Friends is to help the animals find good homes with permanent or foster families; but if they are not adopted, they live permanently at the sanctuary.
Best Friends is the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary, which means that animals, regardless of illness or handicap, can live out their lives in peace. Animals are only put down in cases of terminal and/or extremely painful illness—only when compassion requires euthanasia because there is no reasonable alternative.
The group also publishes Best Friends, a bimonthly magazine with articles about animals, animal welfare, news and photos of animal-related events, and activities at the sanctuary. As of 2009, the magazine had some 300,000 subscribers.
Visitors and tourism
Each year, more than 27,000 visitors tour Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, while another 4,500 people volunteer to donate time for the animals. Tours of the sanctuary are available daily throughout the year. Part of the Best Friends philosophy is that visitors and volunteers are a vital part of helping the animals to get ready for adoption into new homes. Among the hundreds of volunteers each year at Best Friends are a large assortment of student groups.Work after Hurricane Katrina (2005-2010)
Best Friend’s official role in post-Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
operations was that of a primary animal rescue organization. Best Friends was responsible for rescuing and caring for about 4,000 of those animals and helped transport another 2,000 to new locations for adoptions. Animals in the care of Best Friends were reunited with their families, placed in new homes, or brought to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for continuing care.
Best Friends’ rapid response teams entered the hurricane disaster area on September 2, 2005 and worked for 249 days in and around New Orleans. During the course of the group’s work, it expanded search-and-rescue operations to include St. Bernard and Orleans parishes and worked in concert with various law enforcement officials, the National Guard, and the U.S. Army’s
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
82nd Airborne Division.
Best Friends’ main operations base for search and rescue was on the grounds of St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Mississippi
Tylertown, Mississippi
Tylertown is the county seat of Walthall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,910 at the 2000 census.-History:Tylertown was first known as the Magee Settlement. Its first settlement dates back to the emigration of the Magees and Thornhills from South Carolina and is located on a...
. The group operated a second rescue shelter at Celebration Station, a former arcade, in Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
and worked with the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi to transport animals brought to their shelter to foster and adoption groups across the country. Utilizing volunteers from across North America, including veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and information technology experts, Best Friends was able to make a major contribution to the hurricane relief effort.
Since Katrina, Best Friends has expanded its animal rescue work by providing the staff and resources to help revitalize an Pets Alive animal shelter in New York state, rescue approximately 800 cats from an institutional hoarding situation in Nevada, and provide expertise and assist local animal rescue groups in the aftermath of the Peruvian earthquakes of 2007
2007 Peru earthquake
The 2007 Peru earthquake was an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale that hit the central coast of Peru on Wednesday, August 15, 2007; it occurred at 23:40:57 UTC and lasted for about three minutes...
. Best Friends also gave refuge and lifetime care and rehabilitation to 22 of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick's
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...
most abused dogs from unlawful dog fighting
Dog fighting
Dog fighting is a form of blood sport in which game dogs are made to fight, sometimes to the death. It is illegal in most developed countries. Dog fighting is used for entertainment and may also generate revenue from stud fees, admission fees and gambling....
activities. In December 2008, Georgia, one of the former fighting dogs, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show with Best Friends' dog trainer John Garcia. The two also appeared on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's "Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
" show.
See also
- Animal welfareAnimal welfareAnimal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
- Animal rightsAnimal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
- Cruelty to animalsCruelty to animalsCruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
- Overpopulation (animals)Overpopulation (animals)The phenomenon of overpopulation in companion animals refers to the large number of homeless domestic cats and dogs. In the United States alone, between 3 and 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized each year because no one volunteers to adopt them...
External links
- Best Friends Animal Society
- The Best Friends Network
- Best Friends Magazine Archives
- CBS's "Assignment America" coverage of animals from war-torn Lebanon
- MSNBC coverage of New Orleans animal rescues
- Pahrump Valley Times news story
- Today news story
- Salt Lake Tribune
- Friends find their calling, Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News