Anniversary Blogs

He was an orange and white tabby, abandoned as a teenager and rescued by Best Friends. But in spite of his meager beginnings, his photogenic looks and incisive talent with the pen would elevate him to an iconic status. He was the first of our sanctuary...

The little loop right outside of Casa De Calmar was named for one of its most high-spirited, high-profile cats, Lucy Lou. Even as a kitten, Lucy Lou was always ready for - no, make that always demanded - her close-up. As the uncontested Lobby Queen of...

Newkirk Road was named out of respect for a dog that, had he been able to talk, probably would have said something like, "You'd better name a road after me or I'm going to get into a rumble and refuse to eat my food." Newkirk was a scrappy...

Over the years, Best Friends has gotten its fair share of animals from the nearby polygamist community of Colorado City. This is a place that doesn't exactly inspire thoughts of good dog care, but that's not to say that people there haven't...

When two interns volunteered at Best Friends Sanctuary, it was the cats who live at Morgaine's Place who especially touched them. Morgan Nixon Murdaugh and her friend Letitia Harber Olson spent four weeks at the sanctuary for a college program. Now...

It seemed like nothing could cheer little Rhonda up, no matter how much love and attention her caregivers showered on her. Whatever the little red terrier mix went through before coming to Best Friends seemed to have broken her spirit, robbed her of the...

It's not easy getting a road named after you at Best Friends. The general requirements include the following: A clean driving record. An appearance as a guest star on the critically acclaimed NBC comedy, "The Office." And at least one Nobel...

The Colonel's Barracks houses some of the most mischievous cats living at Best Friends. It's why they're in the Wildcat Village part of Cat World. The building is named after one of the most mischievous cats of all: the Colonel. He came to...

Dotty was a sweet old gal, a gentle soul who got along with everyone. The black, tan and white mixed-breed dog with the dots above her eyes was one of the senior residents at Best Friends' Dogtown. Best Friends built the "suburban subdivision"...

With a name like Leopold, what kind of dog would you expect? Perhaps a bull mastiff, a Newfoundland, a St. Bernard or some other giant breed of dog? But the Leopold for whom Leopold's Lair is named was not exactly in the "giant" category...

Petey was one of Dogtown's old-timers. So when Best Friends built a "suburban subdivision" called Dogtown Heights back in the early part of the decade, former Dogtown manager Lynn Battista named one of the residences after the shy, black...

In the early days of Best Friends, co-founder Faith Maloney served as the only unofficial animal control officer for Kane County, Utah (the county in which our sanctuary is located), as well as for areas in northern Arizona that adjoin the county. Whenever...

It goes with the job of rescuing animals - encountering people so blithely callous to animals you wonder which planet they have come from. Co-founder Faith Maloney, who in the 1980s served as unofficial animal control in Kanab, Utah, the area in which...

Vinny's Place was constructed by a builder that couldn't spell. But Vinnie didn't really care at all about that; spelling wasn't a high priority in his life. Vinnie was a cat. He was found with several other feral cats and brought to Best...

Like many dogs, Jethro came to Best Friends to avoid death. Not the euthanasia kind of death that comes from being in an animal control facility, but rather the kind of death that comes from being the target of a mafia hit. Jethro was living in Arizona...