Wordwind Communications

Published in Family Circle, January 4, 2000, Page 104

A Haven for Homeless Animals

By Joanne Rideout

Each morning, as the sun rises over the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Angel Canyon, Utah, Max, a 4-year-old black Great Dane, stretches, yawns and gazes contentedly at the other dogs in the neighborhood.

In a few hours, staff and volunteers will begin the joyful, noisy ritual of feeding the 700 canine residents of Dogtown, where Max lives. Elsewhere in the sanctuary at species-specific areas known as the TLC Cat Club, Feathered Friends, Bunny House and WildCats Village (for feral cats), denizens of the nation's largest no-kill animal refuge begin their day.

Later, a staffer will come by to take Max for a walk, scratch him lovingly behind the ears and offer warm hugs. Until then, he and his buddy, Sandy, a female St. Bernard mix, lounge outside the doghouse in their roomy enclosure and share some canine conversation. Life for Max is a happy affair these days, filled with companionship and security. Not so long ago, however, his existence was uncertain. A Cleveland, Ohio, court had sentenced him to death after he was accused of biting a small boy and another dog. There was some confusion about whether Max had committed the crime, and when the story hid the news, it caused a great stir among Ohio animal lovers.

But Max's future remained bleak until an area Best Friends member contacted the sanctuary, which offered to take the dog. The judge, seeing a win-win solution, spared Max on the condition that he live there for the rest of his days.

Since its founding, Best Friends has been a haven for animals with nowhere else to go. In 1975 a group of friends purchased some ranch land near Prescott, Arizona, and began adopting animals from the town shelter. Currently, the animal sanctuary owns 350 acres in Kanab, Utah.

The nonprofit organization had evolved into a huge facility funded almost entirely by donations from 130,000 members worldwide. Although most of the animals are eventually adopted, the facility is usually filled to its capacity of 1,800 animals (Animals can stay as long as necessary; the refuge has to turn away more than 1,000 additional requests each month.)

Another important part of Best Friends' work is its "No More Homeless Pets" program, which aims to bring about an end to the killing of adoptable animals in shelters. To further its efforts, the sanctuary works with the Best Friends Network, a coalition of concerned citizens and animal welfare groups throughout the nation.

Members help locally by volunteering at spay/neuter clinics, assisting with adoptions at shelters, or rescuing abandoned animals.

Though the number of cats and dogs that die in shelters and pounds is down -- to 5 million from 17 million a decade earlier -- the sanctuary director and founding member Faith Maloney maintains there's always work to be done.

"We care about life, in furry or human form," she says, adding hopefully, "and we believe in small victories, one at a time."

To learn more about the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah or about Best Friends Network efforts near you, write to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, 5001 Angel Canyon Drive, Kanab, UT 84741-5001, or call 435-644-2001. Or visit their web site at www.bestfriends.org or email the organization at info@bestfriends.org.