Best Friends Animal Sanctuary by Sam

Ever since we started planning this trip and ever since I read the book Amazing Places to Take Your Kids (three years ago!) I've been wanting to go to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. And now we have! I was disappointed that the timing didn't work out for us to be able to volunteer for a whole day there. But, we did get to do a visit and an amazing tour for a couple of hours.

The animals at the sanctuary include horses, cats, dogs, parrots, pigs, rabbits, koi, and some wildlife. The animals are there because they've been rescued from the street or they've been given to them by owners who don't want them anymore (because of behaviour or disability) or they were being abused. Also, they have a wildlife clinic where they rescue animals, rehabilitate them and release them back into the wild. They have a simply amazing place. They provide for all of the animal's needs and have designed special facilities for them to live with one another. There are dogs there who have come from horrible dog fighting backgrounds and Best Friends works with them until they're better and able to be adopted out. When an animal isn't able to be adopted out (because it is too hard to take care of them) Best Friends will give them a really good home for life. It is the largest No Kill sanctuary in North America. They also do education work to the public and do big adoption days in cities across the US and Strut Your Mutt (a big dog festival!) events that raise money They work with other shelters and governments to stop things like puppy mills and mistreatment of animals.

When we arrived, we first saw koi in the welcome garden. There were a variety of colours and sizes (the large black and white one we called Mr. Hallowe'en.) The pond was in a peaceful flower garden. Inside the welcome centre, we met Bear, a pomeranian who was super friendly. Like many others, he had been rescued and now belongs to one of the staff members. We watched a film about how Best Friends is helping animals and stuff like that and then we got into a van to go around the place along a bumpy road.

We saw the horses first which were very beautiful. They have lots of pastures for feeding and grazing and have a special place designed for a horse that had been badly injured. We went by Angel's Rest where they bury the animals. There are silver sparkling wind chimes and sculptures there. After that, we went to Dogtown Heights. We saw the octagon shelters in which they live. We met Beethoven who had recently had knee surgery and was very friendly. Then we went to one of the shelters at Catworld. Gertrude, one of the cats, was blind but sweet. One of the cats even jumped up and hung out on my lap. The cats had so many things to keep them busy and the staff were knowledgeable and you could tell they really loved all the cats. We also went by the other animal areas and the brand new clinic and residents where students and volunteers live. There is even a restaurant that has an all you can eat vegetarian buffet at lunch!

My plan now is to hopefully have our family (and maybe some friends) go to Best Friends for a whole winter to volunteer. We can stay at a cabin on the property (you have to reserve this a year in advance!) and I will probably work with the dogs or maybe at Horse Haven. On our time off, we could hike around the area. There are national parks and other beautiful places nearby! Best Friend Animal Sanctuary is a very special place and I think you should support them or visit if you can.