Oct. 17. What a wonderful place for animals! After visiting the Pink Coral Sand Dunes, we had time to stop by the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It is in a beautiful setting in a canyon. There are also great views of the surrounding bluffs from the road through the sanctuary.
The group originated in Arizona in 1971, developing from The Foundation Faith of the Millennium religious group. The Foundation church relocated animals from its Arizona ranch to property near Kanab, Utah, in 1984. In 1991, the church was renamed Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which became a tax-exempt, nonprofit charity, and in 2003 renamed Best Friends Animal Society. After the Foundation church moved to the current sanctuary grounds in 1984, the founders eventually began informally calling it "Best Friends" until 1991 when it officially began operating as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter in Angel Canyon. The sanctuary is on 3,700 acres with an additional 33,000 acres leased from the United States Bureau of Land Management.
We made it to the facility in time for the 90 minute tour. We were taken around the grounds in a van and the driver gave us excellent explanations of the different facilities. The road from the visitor center became dirt and it was amazing how the different sections for animals were so spread out. The buildings for the animals are all top of the line, and there is even a brand new clinic right on the grounds, plus a small restaurant.
Horses, pigs, goats, birds, rabbits, cats and dogs-they have it all! There are thousands of animals in the sanctuary. All are adoptable and you can even take one with you to your RV or hotel and babysit it for a night. They give you bedding and food, etc., so you have every thing you need. What a nice idea! The only problem is that I wouldn’t want to return the animal!! I am such a softy for animals! If you do adopt, the sanctuary will get the pet to you anywhere in the US. There are other Best Friends facilities around the country and every effort is made to give an animal a loving home.
The sanctuary relies heavily on volunteers. The volunteers, as well as staff, are each assigned to a specific type of animal facility and get to know those animals, feed them, pet them, walk them, etc. I wanted to get out and pet the horses but the guide said they may bite. The canyon provides natural rock fencing on parts of the pastures and there are several areas for the horses, even a special area for the ones that are put on a diet!
Then we drove through the Angels Rest cemetery. Each animal marker has a name on it and there are hundreds of them. Even the local residents are allowed to bury their pet in the cemetery.
After visiting a few other areas, we stopped at one of the several cat houses and got to play with some of the cats. There were so many of them! The cats have plenty of room to play, plus some can wonder around inside the rooms and hallways if they are good. There are cute small screened and shaded strollers that the volunteers use to take the cats for walks. Some of the cats are aloof, just what you would expect from a cat. Others were so friendly. My favorite is the one in the 1st picture. He was so loving, and if I were to adopt, he would be the one. I almost want to buy a van and take then all!!
The next stop was Dogtown. We only got to see a few of the dogs and one was brought outside for us to pet. The dogs have a huge caged area and share it with 2-3 other dogs. The dogs have access to the outside and have a large yard they can play in. They are walked all the time by some of the volunteers. My heart melted when I downloaded my photos and saw the expression I had captured on the dog’s face in the 1st picture. Aw….. We only got to pet Roxann, and she was just such a loving dog.
We didn’t get to see the birds and rabbits. They have their own open house visiting hours. Rabbits are so cute and I wanted to see them, so several days later, after we returned from another visit to Zion National Park, we stopped by the sanctuary for the scheduled hour to see the rabbits. Rabbits are soft and pretty, but they sure are messy! After some interesting facts about them, I think will stick with the stuffed rabbit toys! I was disappointed that I couldn’t pet one.
What a great facility the whole sanctuary is! If I were to ever adopt again, I would adopt a Best Fiends animal.
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