Best Friends Animal Society

Love that there is a place that allows animals to live out their lives and gives them a home.

Didn't like seeing the adoptable dogs in locked rooms, not cages, but little bigger than a closet. Wanted to see dogs running free. Was told they do not yet have an area where dogs can run/play together to see if they got along together, for adoption purposes. But they are working on that. So can't help to wonder if dogs stay contained most of the day? But this is an example of the importance of donating to provide funds to them!!

There was kitten room and they were enjoying their lives.

Large gift shop.
Didn't have time to volunteer but definitely will come back in future. Donated instead.

Aside from a random dog park, this might be the best place to meet other people that love animals and understand the desire to pet every dog they see out in the world.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is a place where every animal could potentially find a home. They focus on supporting shelters becoming no-kill as well as providing a safe space for rescued or sick animals to live out their lives if they are not adoptable.

I took a tour with my wife and we found it to be one of our favorite activities during our trip to Kanab. The 90 minute tour was led by a lovely volunteer who drove us around the property in a shuttle, telling us about the different buildings and areas. We stopped to visit both the cats and the goats and had plenty of time to enjoy them both.

Tours are free, but you do need to reserve a slot online ahead of time. Be sure to wear closed toed shoes if you want to be able to visit the animals up close. They also recommend sunblock and water for each guest. This is a visit you won't regret making!

This place is pure heaven on earth for the wide variety of rescued animals here. Upon my arrival, I spotted several people taking the pigs out for a walk. So cute!

Once the animals come here, they literally have a home forever. Either by being adopted or staying at this sanctuary. Yes indeed, a no-kill policy. Fabulous I say.

They have many areas to explore including; Dogtown, Cat World, Horse Haven, Marshall's Piggy Paradise, Bunny House, Parrot Garden & Wild Friends. You can book a tour, volunteer and or book a cabin to stay overnight.

My only regret is not scheduling enough time to spend here! We were on our way to Monument Valley and I wanted to arrive before sunset. The bird tour I booked was already underway, even though I was on time. They want you to arrive early (since this place is situated on many acres of land) so they can drive you to the correct area for your tour. Sad face for me.

However, the nice lady offered to open up one of the dog areas so we could visit. Turned out to be a small room containing a handful of kennels full of loving, boisterous dogs located close to the main office.

Long story short I fell in love with a dog. Yup I wanted to take her home and was sure she would love my chocolate lab. She spent most of her time in my lap. Alas, it was not meant to be. But I do have my pictures of her to admire and the t-shirts I bought from the gift shop.

Ways to give include; adoption, sponsor an animal, become a best friends member or join the action team.

If I'm ever in this area again I'll make sure to book a tour months in advance. And of course to be early!

Great people doing great things! We really enjoyed our day here! Wetook the full tour and were quite amazed at the size of the facility and the variety of animals served. We could have spent all day getting a kitten fix! After the tour, we took our 4-wheel truck and found the hidden lake...that was amazing.

Visited August 2022

This trip had been a long time in the making when the pandemic upended travel and volunteering with Best Friends back in 2020. Thankfully they resumed these activities in 2022 and I was able to plan a trip for my mom, who is a lifetime lover of horses.

Unfortunately, she spent pretty much all of her time mucking stalls. I get that horse care is more than just brushing and feeding, but I was hoping that she could have had a little more variety in the work she was doing over two and a half days. Thankfully the staff at Horse Haven was great to work with and she didn't have a terrible time while we were there.

In the other areas, the staff was a bit more uneven. Some members were happy to see us and appreciative of the time we were committing to the care of the animals, others seemed to prefer delegating tasks they didn't care for to us so they could hang out at the picnic tables until we were done.

We did enjoy taking the dogs for walks and feeding them, most of them were very happy to get a little attention from us. When one of the dogs bit me, staff acted quickly and handled the situation well. Thankfully he didn't break the skin, and there were no ill effects afterwards.

If you're in the area, consider volunteering for a shift but maybe not plan a whole trip around it.

This place is a true blessing to the welfare of all domesticated animals. When in the area, you should take a tour.

So amazing! What a wonderful organization I wish we knew about it sooner. The hotel rooms were IMMACULATE, amenities are beyond expectations (beautiful dog park with dog pads, washing station, huge running area for animals, live music Saturday night, complimentary yoga) , continental breakfast was awesome (homemade breads, chia seed pudding, overnight oats, fresh fruit, fresh egg bites, coffee and juice). The mercantile/ gift shop has such cute items and ALL proceeds go to benefit one of their sanctuary's that's 6,000 acres!!!!

You can also let them know ahead of time if you want to have a sleepover in your hotel room with dogs, cats or bunnies. They offer a free 3 hour tour of the whole sanctuary if you stay at the hotel.

(Putting this in caps so people see it) THEY DON'T CHARGE EXTRA FOR YOUR FUZZY BABIES TO STAY AT THE HOTEL! DON'T STAY ANYWHERE ELSE IN TOWN THAT ARE ANIMAL FRIENDLY!! (seriously there's no reason to stay anywhere else when ALL of their proceeds go to help animals and the rooms are cleaner than a normal hotel)

Wow, this place is amazing! I have never been to a place where everyone is so happy to be there. Every single person we met was so kind and so friendly.

We first stopped at the visitor center, where they have tours, bathrooms, a gift shop, and pets available for adoption. Everything in the gift shop was well curated, and again, everyone was SO friendly!

We brought a whole herd of animals with us, including 2 huskies and a poodle. The helpful gentleman at the front gave us instructions on how to get to the nature walks on site. The nature walks are short and probably a bit easier when the trails aren't snowy, but still a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

It is clear that everyone who works here has a true passion for all animals. We met a wonderful guide who showed us all the horses. Many of their horses come to them after a bout of illness, and the trainers here help them heal. All the horses are available for adoption as well. For this reason, they welcome dogs as long as they are on a leash. They want all their horses to be comfortable with different animals! Our guide knew each horse so well - from their habits to their unique quirks. With her accompanying us, we were able to meet and pet some horses!

I love that they provide a safe and loving place for these animals to recover.

Tried to surrender my deceased sister's dog, he has special needs. They say they are full but for the right fanfare, they will take in 22 dogs from an abusive situation. Good for them but what about the little guy?
Does anyone hold them accountable?
How do they expect to get to NO-KILL 2025 when they won't take dogs in?

This is the 2nd time I've volunteered and visited Best Friends and I had just as much fun if not more fun this time. If you have not been here and you love animals, I promise you, you are missing out!

I started out Friday morning in Piggy Paradise and it was way more than what I had expected. I had zero interaction with pigs up to this volunteer experience so I was just excited to pet them and what I got was sooo much more. I started off my day with breakfast and holy crap how freakin fun I had running around dropping the veggie mix and romaine lettuce on the mats for the pigs and them running from mat to mat to eat it was so much fun I clearly am easily entertained but whatever, I had a great start. I would have had more pictures but, my phone jumped out of my hand and broke so there was that. After feeding 42 pigs, we washed up dishes then took Wally and Sully for a walk. Have you ever walked a 300lb pot bellied pig?? Omgosh I literally didn't know what to expect but they were awesome! They just walked like an off-leash dog! They walked right along side of us and if they started lagging, we gave them some almonds and dried fruit and they picked it right up. They were so flippin cute. Sully has his tongue hanging out of his mouth a little bit he's adorable. After their pretty long walk we came back and loved on everybody. Jared gave up his belly so I was able to rub his big ol belly lots.

Friday PM, overnight and Saturday AM I had "Lunchable" a 9month old Border collie/cattle dog mix. He was such a sweetie. We hiked and then stayed at the Roadhouse for a sleepover. He was the best boy and snuggled in bed with me he was worn out after our long hike. We woke up and hiked again before I had to drop him off and pick up my next friend "Argos".

Saturday PM, sleepover and Sunday AM I had "Argos" a 1 yr 4mo old American Pit Bull mix. This big boy loved to hike. We hiked longer and more elevation to try and wear him out. He was such a great boy too. Super gentle and loved everyone we passed along the trails. Sunday morning we hiked almost 4miles before I had to drop him back off too. Once back at Best Friends we did a small trail then back to his area.

If you are in the area or if you want a getaway, I highly recommend a visit. There are so many animals here I bet you can find an area you will enjoy.

If you are a local, contact Dogtown, volunteer for Dogtown Outings and take a dog for 4 hours. They would love your company hiking, just for a drive, anything. Gets them out of there and keeps them socialized and maybe you can find your next furry best friend

Best Friends as a Sanctuary is non-profit and is trying to have all shelters be no-kill by 2025. Their staff is amazing and you can tell they love the animals.

I'll be back!