A better world through kindness to animals

Best Friends Animal Society is guided by a simple philosophy: kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us.

In the late 1980s, when Best Friends was in its early days, roughly 17 million dogs and cats
were being killed in shelters every year.  Despite the commitment of shelter workers to the animals
in their care, the conventional belief was that little could be done to lower that terrible number.

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Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets campaign created a new vision: A grassroots effort to place dogs and cats who were considered "unadoptable" into good homes, and to reduce the number of unwanted pets through effective spay and neuter programs.  Since then, the number of dogs and cats being destroyed in shelters has fallen to approximately 5 million a year.  There has been much progress,but there is still much more to do.

The next phase of this work – bringing the number down to essentially zero – will take more work and some bold new initiatives.  Shelters are crowded with pit bulls, dogs abandoned after being bought from pet stores, stray cats rounded up on the streets and not looking their very best when they’re brought in, and other pets abandoned or neglected.

As the flagship of a grassroots network of people and organizations that care about animals, Best Friends continues to lead the way towards this future.  And that's why our purpose remains: A better world through kindness to animals.

At the sanctuary
The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary at Angel Canyon, at the heart of the Golden Circle of national parks in southern Utah, is home on any given day to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals, who come from shelters and rescue groups around the country for special care they can only receive at Best Friends.

Most of the animals who find their way to Best Friends have special physical or behavioral needs, and our expert staff of veterinarians, trainers and caregivers offer them all the help they require.  Most of them are ready to go to good new homes after just a few weeks of special care.  A few, who are too old or too sick, or who have suffered extra trauma, find a home and haven at the sanctuary, and are given loving care for the rest of their lives.

Around the country
Best Friends works with our members -- and with humane groups, individuals and entire communities -- to set up spay/neuter, shelter, foster and adoption programs in neighborhoods, cities, and states throughout the country.  Through this work, Best Friends is helping to save and rehabilitate tens of thousands of animals each year.

Through the online Best Friends Network, the society reaches across the nation and around the world, helping local communities to rescue animals in distress and to create their own No More Homeless Pets communities.

Animal rescue and disaster response
At home and abroad, Best Friends has led some of the largest animal rescue efforts in recent history.  These rescues include natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, wartime situations, and animal hoarding or failed shelter situations where hundreds of dogs and cats need urgent and continuing care for many months before they can be placed in good new homes.  With its sanctuary and rescue experience, Best Friends is the only organization in the country capable of mounting such major rescue efforts.

Public education
Best Friends offers workshops, internships, training programs and conferences to help individuals, groups and communities to set up and manage their own shelter, rescue, adoption and spay/neuter programs.  Best Friends magazine also has the largest readership of any general-interest animal publication in the U.S.

 


Support
The work of Best Friends is supported entirely by the donations of our members.  Through the generous hearts and hands of people like you, we can ensure that animals who come into the care of Best Friends will never again be alone, hungry, sick, afraid or in pain.  We invite you to join us in helping to bring about the time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.

Meet the Staff
Go behind the scenes at Best Friends and meet the folks who manage our various animal care areas, Best Friends magazine, member services, and more.

Before Best Friends
Read the history prior to Best Friends and personal stories of some of its founders.