Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

A couple weekends ago my sister and I went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, UT. We first heard about the sanctuary from the TV show "Dogtown" that was on the National Geographic Channel. The trip was a celebration of my 27th birthday.

I remember trying to think of something to do to celebrate, but nothing was sounding good because I was feeling a bit down on being 27. My body feels old and I know logically that I am not old, but having danced all my life I can see a glaring contrast between what my body could do when I was 2o compared to what it can do now. At 27 I am practically unemployed yet I have a Master's degree. I live at home with my mom because I can't afford to live on my own and my loan/credit card debt are large. In short, I was a little bummed about turning 27.

Anyway, the idea of volunteering at Best Friends just popped into my head one day and I brought it up to my sister. We both almost exploded with excitement and decided to go ahead and make a roadtrip out of it. The two of us have not really gone anywhere together...just the two of us. We get along wonderfully and she is my best friend, so we were happy to be going somewhere together. We are both HUGE animal lovers and the thought of working with animals all day made us want to cry with joy and excitement.

Getting to Best Friends on the first morning was so exciting, I dont even have words to describe it.

the welcome sign

The scenery in Kanab, UT is unreal. It is so beautiful and different then what we have in So. California. The dirt and rocks are red and when the sun hits them its like they are glowing.

where we ate lunch

We worked with dogs, cats, pigs and rabbits. The sanctuary is 3000 acres and has so many animals, there is a lot of work to be done. We did everything from poop scooping to sitting with cats for 3 hours. The people who work there are really friendly and basically will let you do as much or as little as you want. They just appreciate the extra help. My sister and I were happy to do literally anything because we were so elated to be there.

the first dog i walked, Saully

Buster Blue

I wrote about Buster Blue in an earlier post. We took him for a "sleepover" at our motel. He is the best dog!

walking Sprocket

Yes, I did take a pig for a walk. It was AMAZING. I couldn't believe some of the stories these pigs have...all sorts of abuse and neglect. They are truly beautiful animals!

Little Red

For my sister's birthday I gave her a sponsorship of a dog at Best Friends. I picked Little Red for many reasons, but mainly because she reminded me of my sisters pit bull, Faith. Little Red was rescued from Michael Vick (if you don't know about that situation, please inform yourself) She was supposedly used as a bait dog and had scars, both physically and mentally. She cannot be touched by volunteers, but the sanctuary was nice enough to let us see her. She is SO beautiful and small. I can't imagine wanting to hurt an animal like her.

Best Friends rescued 22 of Michael Vick's fighting dogs and has managed to adopt out 5 of them already! They are doing some amazing rehab work for these dogs!

sitting with one of my many cat friends

This trip was probably the best thing I have ever done. It was magical and inspirational. Don't be surprised if I move there. I can't wait to go back!