Tag Archives: volunteer best friends

What has 600 eyes, 300 tails and 1200 legs? These overwhelming proportions belong to no single beast, but to the population of Dog Town at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Just 20 minutes east of Zion, Best Friends is America’s largest sanctuary for abandoned and abused animals. This nationaly-reknowned no-kill animal sanctuary is home to horses, pigs, cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, goats, and a few other animals, too, a veritable Noah’s Ark for animals in need. In 2010, Best Friends was visited by 30,000 people, helped by 8500 volunteers, and had a membership of 300,000. On my first volunteer trip, I went ready to do grunt work, clean stuff, and get dirty. I chose to work with the dogs. Upon arrival, I learned that loving dogs and walking dogs are two of the biggest ongoing contributions wanted and needed from volunteers. This seemed “too easy” at first; reluctantly, I agreed to let go of my attachment to grunt work and embrace being an animal lover. After a few minutes being gazed at, leaned on, and wagged at by several dogs, their appreciation of my effort was obvious. It made sense, and honestly made it easy for me to … Continue reading →