Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Saturday June 11, 2011
Kanab RV Corral
Kanab, Utah

The only problem with the Kanab RV Corral
is that it is right on Route 89.  Very convenient
for finding it but it is also the main route
through town and to Zion National Park.
So there was a lot of traffic noise last night.
Fans to the rescue again.  Thankfully
the temperatures have dropped.

Nice running in the morning through downtown
Kanab.  All along the sidewalks of the main
street they have  signs with pictures of
all the actors and actresses who have made
movies in this town.  David took a few
snaps of those he knew. 

Apparently there were so many westerns made here
beginning in the 20’s,
that the folks in Hollywood began referring to Kanab
as “Little Hollywood”.

In 1924, Tom Mix starred in Deadwood Coach
the first movie made in Kanab. 
Other movies over the next 70+ years were
Drums Along the Mohawk, Stagecoach, My Friend Flicka, 
Planet of the Apes,  The Outlaw Josie Wales
and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again among many, many others.

TV shows filmed here included
Gunsmoke, Lassie, Death Valley Days, The Lone Ranger,
Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Six Million Dollar Man
and Grizzly Adams to name just a few.

Here is a SMALL number of the dozens of stars we ran by
on Kanab’s Little Hollywood Walk of Fame.
I actually remember these folks.  :-)

 

 

He didn’t get my favorite, Dale Evans but  he did get
a couple of my not so favorites that you
might like.

We got back, rewarded ourselves with bacon and eggs
for our effort and thus put back on all the
pounds and artery plaque we had just run off.  :-))

We had an appointment for a tour
at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary at 1:00.
So between running and the tour
David thought of some excuses to go to
the local hardware stores while I worked on the blog. 

This part of the blog is particularly dedicated
to my friend Pam
who is a very Best Friend of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
and insisted I MUST visit there and wanted me to put
all the pictures I could on the blog for her to see.
She has gone from her home in Virginia to
volunteer for weeks on end at Best Friends
at her own expense.
Hope you enjoy this Pam.

Best Friends is located just a few miles outside of Kanab
in Angel Canyon.

We were right on time and first saw the excellent movie of
their work and some of the people and animals
they have helped.  On any given day, Best Friends
provides a home for 2000+ animals of all kinds.
Horses, burros, sheep, goats, exotic birds, guinea
and potbellied pigs, dogs, cats
and I can’t remember what else.

I loved this sign in the Welcome Center

While we waited for our tour we enjoyed
the inspiration garden and its Koi.

Guides Chris and Dan  split up the approximately
20 folks there for a tour into two vans.

They took us around some of the 3700 acres
to tour the facilities.  Unfortunately I turned
out to have chosen the wrong side of the bus
and I had a hard time taking pictures of the
places we just drove by. 

Such as the horse area

and barn 

Dogtown is their original dog area.

 
Some of you may have seen it if you watch
the National Geographic TV program
entitled Dogtown which shows the Best Friends
Facility in its opening credits. 

We didn’t stop at Dogtown since we were scheduled to
make a stop at Dogtown Heights their newer
facility.  But out the window we did see
Maggie’s Mercantile, the main admission building at Dogtown
where dogs are checked in and checked out before moving
into Dogtown.

Other buildings included

I believe this is the physical therapy building.

Then we arrived at Dogtown Heights
and one of the buildings which houses dogs.
The octagon shape is excellent for being able
to see all the rooms and their residents.

The dogs have very nice coyote proof runs for exercise.

 

One of the first residents we noticed in the inside
run was a beagle.  Our favorite dog breed.
Hats off to our Buffy, Scamper, Scooter, Floppy, Lily, Emmie
and Paul and Marti’s Zoe the Wonder dog.

What a great looking dog.   Boy if we lived near here………….

We all crowded in to see what the
inside of the octagons was like.
Along the top of the moldings are
pictures of former residents who have
gone on to “forever homes” (adoption).

Updates are posted so everyone can keep tabs.

Happy Times with toys in Dogtown Heights

Chris showed us the meticulous records
and plans for each dog that are kept by the
folks who volunteer and work here.

Looks like a lot of work that everyone there,
even tired at the end of a shift, seemed to enjoy.

We went by Angel’s Angel’s Rest.
The gates were made by a local
man and show pets he has had.

Look Carefully I was too close to get the many
other metal likenesses.

And also Angel’s Overlook

the two pet cemeteries at Best Friends.

Owners are encouraged to put wind chimes out
to honor their pets and the frequent breezes
make for nice music.

Some people leave little stones as mementos
each time they come.

 

Chris was a pretty fast driver on these
dirt roads.  That was the only thing
that could use any improvement here.
Both the van’s shocks and the passengers
would have appreciated her driving a lot slower.

Best Friends is building a new Administration building
to replace the house that was being used
so that folks can have offices, rather than closets with
desks in them.  Some dogs who prefer not to
be in groups, stay here with the folks who work here.

And then it was off to the Cat area.
Happy Landings is their check in building.
Whoever does all these signs, does a great job.
They are really cute.

Here is

Looks like a fun place for kitties for sure.
Outside in the fresh air and look at all
those great places to climb and hide.

We went in to

to get a closer look

where there were kitties galore
not nearly as excited to see us as the dogs had been. 
:-))

Cool beds

Other places to catch a few winks

And nice volunteers to scratch your ears.

There were great places to hang out

 

 

Although the toys in the other room are always
more interesting than those in your own

And more great signs

On our way back to the Welcome Center, Chris
told us about two other areas that have their own
separate tours which you can return to take. 
One of those was Feathered Friends.
Home to parrots, cockatiels and more.

At the tour’s beginning, Chris asked us whether we were
dog or cat people.  She said you had to choose, for this
question, you couldn’t be both.
Our group was a fairly evenly split
She said in her year of driving the bus
she had anecdotal evidence that the
more outgoing, noisy folks, were dog people
and the more quiet, cat people.

When I asked David this he said he was probably
60/40 Dog to Cat.  But when putting this blog
together I noticed most of his pictures were
from the cat area.  When asked about it, he said
“cats stand still better and like to pose”
LOL

At the end of the tour, I asked Chris what had brought her to
Best Friends to work and she said that like many of the
single women 40 and older who are there,
she decided to make a change in her life
and do what she really wanted to do.
After volunteering at Best Friends,
it seems many decide to move to Kanab.  
Some eventually become employees.  

She also told me that Best Friends is Kanab's largest private employer.
So they are clearly doing a lot for the local economy.

As evidenced by this picture of David’s,
I was the last one off of the bus.

 

I highly recommend their tour.
It’s a great way to spend 2 hours and see
the wonderful work this organization is doing
for homeless and abused animals.

When we were out running this morning we had
”run into” yet another car show.  This man is a magnet.
So David wanted me to drop him off there, it was just after 3, and he would walk home.
Well sadly, he should have done the car show instead of the
hardware store because they closed at 3:00
and this was their only day
but he was able to get a few pictures
of the cars that hadn’t left yet.
(The blog writer reserved the right to exclude hot rods
in favor of antiques)

Following that disappointment David decided to revisit a
cherry tree he had also seen on our run.  He asked
permission of the owner to pick and bring home some
of its fruit for a home made pie.
YUM YUM!!!

But the pie is tomorrow and we’re also planning to make
a dry run up to Zion Canyon National Park to check
out boondocking in the South Campground.
In spite of repated trying, I haven’t been able to get reservations
at Watchman,
where there is electricity.

Check back and see what happens.