Modern Cat

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

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Formed more than 30 years ago, the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was created by a group of people who saw that more than 17 million animals—starting, of course, with the older, sick and special needs animals— were being euthanized in shelters every year. Due in part to the organizati­on’s tireless work, that number has dropped to 1.5 million annually. Still, that’s nearly 4,100 dogs and cats that are killed in U. S. shelters every day, so there’s clearly a lot more work to be done. Today, the Sanctuary has 1,700 animals in its care at any time, including cats, dogs, birds, horses, pigs, donkeys, and wildlife. The non-profit animal welfare society owns nearly 3,700 magical acres in Kanab, Utah, and leases an additional 17,000 acres of state and federal land to house all their rescue animals. Although Cat World makes up only a part of the Sanctuary, it’s not small by any means. Perhaps best described as sprawling, it takes up 10 buildings—all housing cats exclusivel­y. Cat World houses 550 cats at any given time, and also has an on-site vet clinic that allows the organizati­on to do medical procedures like spay and neuters and dental procedures. Currently, Cat World has around 60 FIV-positive cats. With its special needs capabiliti­es, including the ability to care for bottle babies, Best Friends works collaborat­ively with other groups from all over the country—and in some cases, all over the world—taking in animals that rescue groups and smaller shelters are not able to care for. Lately, Jenn is finding that Cat World is getting fewer requests to take on FIV-positive cats. “I’m hoping that’s because other groups are figuring out how to get those cats adopted, or because people understand them better,” says Jenn. “It makes me very happy that we are getting fewer FIV-positive cats.”

For more on the Sanctuary or to adopt a cat, go to bestfriend­s.org/sanctuary.

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