PMS and BFF!

PMS Gang at Best Friends!

No, not that kind of PMS! I have a group of friends here in Northern Utah. We all have two things in common: 1) we all work for the Salt Lake County Library system and 2) we all have shelties adopted from Sheltie Rescue of Utah www.sheltierescueut.org  Thus, we are all Proud Moms of Shelties--otherwise known as The PMS Gang. We try to get together several times a year with our dogs, and from time to time, without them.

A few months back, when we all had dinner together, we were talking about Best Friends Animal Sanctuary down in Kanab, Utah. Some of us had been there before and some hadn't. So I said, "Let's all go down there in the spring and volunteer!" And so we did, last weekend! The four of us said goodbye to our own rescued dogs (and husbands), piled into Dena's van, and headed down to beautiful Kanab with far too much food. Yours truly was a little nervous, what with it being Friday the 13th and all, but we got there just fine.

Angel Canyon

One of many pastures and barns

Dean making a new friend

Saturday morning, we headed to Angel Canyon to Best Friends. If you don't know about Best Friends, it's the largest no-kill sanctuary in the United States. The organization owns thousands of acres there in the canyon. At any given time, the sanctuary houses and cares for (in the most compassionate, positive ways possible) around 1500 animals--dogs, cats, horses, pigs, birds, rabbits, you name it! Thousands of people come there every year from all over the world to volunteer. Anyway, we went on a wonderful tour of the sanctuary. I've been on that tour probably close to a half dozen times and I never get tired of it! And I never get tired of seeing people's reaction to the sanctuary who've never been there.

After the tour, we ate lunch and then headed to our volunteer duties. You may be shocked to know that often when I go there, I choose to volunteer at the Cat Houses, seeing as how I'm such an avowed dog person. But I do have cats too, and I love helping out with the cats there. We played with the cats, brushed the cats, and Linda even took a very special cat for a walk on a leash! Or rather, he  took her for a walk. We all decided that walking cats bares no resemblance to walking a dog. No matter how many times I volunteer there, I can never get over how clean everything is! The indoor and (screened) outdoor areas for the cats are scrubbed down twice a day. And you can't believe all the "enrichment" activities they have for these cats. I don't dare tell my cats about Best Friends. They'd be hitchin' a ride down there in a New York minute if I did.

Linda's walking buddy

Rafters for the cats

Our time was, of course, too short at Best Friends. We plan to go back for a longer time in the fall. And if they're lucky, maybe we'll take our husbands along. There's nothing better than being at Best Friends with Friends!

To find out more about this truly amazing and inspiring place, visit their website www.bestfriends.org