Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Kanab Utah

This no kill animal sanctuary was created in the 1980’s by a group of friends who were against kill shelters and wanted to offer a safe place for “unadoptable” animals to live out the rest of their lives or have a safe haven until they found their forever home.

At the heart of Best Friends is the Sanctuary, where, at any given time, about 1,600 animals are turning their lives around, receiving the medical help they need, and getting love and acceptance to help them overcome their past. While searching for their forever homes, they live in a scenic, healing environment among human and animal friends.

Best Friends owns nearly 3,700 acres, and lease another 17,000 acres of state and federal land. Nearly 30,000 people visit every year to meet the animals and tour what has become the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Learn more about the Sanctuary.

We volunteered at the Utah sanctuary during our 3 month trip across the US living out of our Subaru. We helped out for a day walking cats and socializing kittens. There is something to be said about what our faces looked like when the staff asked us if we were “ok” with socializing the kittens for an hour. Being in a barely 5x5 foot room covered in kittens is a memory I pull up from time to time when my day isn’t going perfectly. If you are ever travelling near or find yourself in Utah, look up the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Do yourself and the animals a favor and stop by for a day of volunteering. I guarantee you will have a fantastic time and you will make a bunch of sweet cuddly animals very very happy.

Get out and volunteer!