Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Laura found this site on the internet. We planned a stop here in the early planning stages of the tour. Best Friends is a no-kill animal sanctuary. They have a tremendous adoption rate (88% of dogs are placed in homes). They have a cat house, dog house, bird house, horses, wild life rehabilitation center and full vet services on site. They are on 3,000 acres of private land and lease another 30,000 acres in BLM land. The place is HUGE. You can click the link above for more information.

We planned on volunteering for 3 of the 8 days we are in town. Friday was our orientation and tour of facilities, followed by some time in the cat house. Sunday we are devoting the day to dogs. Tuesday, our final day, will be devoted to helping out in the bird house. We both love animals and this is a great way to give something back, considering our good fortune of being able to pursue our travels.

Here is the view from the cafeteria patio. Could you imagine having this view everyday at work? We had a wonderful vegetarian lunch for $4. I guess you can't expect a no-kill animal sanctuary to serve hamburgers, can you? ;)






This is not your typical animal sanctuary. It is high-tech and very plush! All of the buildings are state of the art, have heat and air. The animals have 24 hour access to be inside or out and ton's of stuff to keep them occupied. Here is one of nine outdoor cat areas; And, Snuggles, our 'too, would be jealous of the toys these guys have!







Here is the "Angels' Rest area". The cemetery where the life long residents "cross the bridge". Members can also put their beloved pets here. The area was very peaceful, snuggled in a cove in the Red Rocks. There were wind chimes all around, mostly dedicated to members pets that surrounded the area in peaceful sound.

















believe it or not, this horse is 45 years old!




Here is Bob, the cat I took for a walk. Now, I'm not a big cat guy (probably why they wanted me to walk him, very dog like) but Bob was cool. We went out into the desert and hunted down lizards and smacked mud wasps around.



Of course, Laura found a cockatoo to love. Seppi, really loved Laura, he wouldn't even step up for me! The bird house is not a normal part of the visitors' tour. Something about people being afraid of birds (huh??). We requested a special tour, and, since we are volunteering here, we got the tour and got to interact with the birds too.

Overall, a long fun day helping out and interacting with the animals. I can't wait for dog day. We will spend the morning cleaning pens and feeding. The afternoon will be spent socializing and walking the dogs. We might even do a 'road trip' with a dog and take them into town. They do have overnight dog visits available. I'm not sure what Snuggles would have to say about that!

-Rich-