This summer Dog Tag Art founder, Jack Carrier, and his assistant, Sarah, have been zipping around the country on a “To the Rescue” tour, visiting animal shelters and talking about the importance of pet safety through pet ID tags. They’ve met a lot of great people along the way, and sponsored some amazing pets, and even had the chance to volunteer for one of our very favorite rescues, Best Friends Animal Society.
Here’s a recap of Jack’s amazing visit at the incredible Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah:
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is the largest no-kill animal refuge in the country, across 3,800 sprawling acres in Angel Canyon, in Kanab, Utah. Our volunteer visit was kicked off by a private tour by one of the key founders, Faith Maloney. Faith showed us around and introduced us to some of the 1,700 animals they host at the Sanctuary, including horses, sheep, pigs, wild birds, parrots, cats, dogs--even a ferret!
Some of the animals at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary are being rehabilitated from harmful past situations such as hoarding, neglect, abuse, injuries or trauma; other animals are brought to Best Friends due to financial troubles, housing restrictions, or were found as strays.
| Best Friends provides physical and emotional support for the animals in their care, including special training so they can be adopted into loving homes. For animals who are too injured or unstable to be adopted or put back in the wild, Best Friends is their safe haven for life, providing love, care, and nurturing, unconditionally. Faith showed us the first Best Friends building called “Margie’s Old Town Hall” which was built in 1986. Faith lives in a small camping trailer nearby and works around the clock to provide comfort for the dogs and cats at the Sanctuary. She truly is an amazing woman! Here she is with Jack in front of the Taggin’ Wagon. |
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 | We volunteered for three days at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and I had the chance to clean cages and feed a variety of wild birds at Wild Friends, clean pastures at Horse Haven, and do some clicker training, feeding, and, of course, poop scooping at Dogtown. Back at camp, in the comfort of our van, we had a doggy sleepover, which is possible and encouraged at Best Friends to prepare dogs for adoption. Nizhoni, meaning "beautiful" in Navajo, is a white and yellow pit bull mix, and was a beautiful camp'anion to have for the night. She was so sweet and loving we wanted to keep her but she wouldn't like living in our van, and we’re thrilled to report that she has since found her forever home! |
At the Welcome Waggin one of the founders, Gabriel DePeyer, filled us in on how the Sanctuary has become the successful organization it is today, with over 600 employees and many loyal volunteers to keep it alive and thriving.
As you can imagine, donations are necessary to the health and sustainability of the Sanctuary. We were pleased to be able to donate $575 to Best Friends Animal Society on behalf of Dog Tag Art and our wonderful community, made possible through our shelter donation program at checkout on our website. We matched 87 customer donations through the website and presented the check to Faith while at the Sanctuary. It takes over one million dollars per WEEK to operate the biggest animal sanctuary in the country, but every bit helps and they were grateful for our support.
At Dogtown Headquarters, we met four amazing “Superhero” dogs chosen by Best Friend’s staff that are ready for adoption. These dogs are the Best Friend's all stars, and are a joy to the staff who hope to see them go to loving homes soon.
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| Nugget is an American Staffordshire Terrier mix. She's 6 years old and very easygoing. She's from Palm Springs, and was surrendered from her owners because of housing restrictions. She's great with kids, loves people, and is very affectionate. Nugget would do best with a family with no other pets. She's been at Best Friends for two years and everyone loves her but hopes to see her happy in a new home. | Bret is a brindled Lab mix. He's a smart two-year-old dog and has been at Best Friends for a year. He was a stray and was in an Albuquerque shelter before coming to Best Friends. Bret is an energetic, fun dog who loves people and loves chasing lizards! He plays well with other dogs, even shy dogs, and would love to go to a good home with energetic people. |
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| Enzo is a very special dog and a Heeler mix. He is 11 years old, and has lived at Best Friends for 9 years, when they found him on the property. He is very shy and is sometimes scared of the weather, but he doesn't bark, and he warms up well to people and likes female dogs best. He is a special dog looking for a special home to live out the rest of his life in peace. | Madrid is a one-year-old Shepard mix and was on the list to be euthanized at a shelter, until someone thankfully stepped in and brought her to Best Friends. We are so happy to report that not only was Madrid given a second chance at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, but since our visit, she’s been adopted! Yay, Madrid! We wish you all the best. |
For more information on these and other animals for adoption at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, visit https://bestfriends.org/Adopt-a-Pet/Sanctuary-Animals/.
For more information about the history of Best Friends, check out Best Friends: The True Story of the World’s Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary by Samantha Glen.
