Introduction

The Story
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Page 9

A Few Personal Stories
Francis
Faith
Anne
Silva

Once Upon a Time - Page 9

The Birth of Best Friends

And gradually Best Friends was born. Two years later, in 1984, we began the sanctuary at Angel Canyon in Southern Utah. For the next few years, some of the members of the Foundation Faith continued their work with children and old folks. But as more and more hands were needed to help build the sanctuary, it was clear that the work of the Foundation had really ended.

Best Friends began with about 18 people committed to its success. Much of what happened next is told in Samantha Glen's book: Best Friends - the Trust Story of the World's Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary. It covers much of the period from 1984 to about 1996.

The years that followed were yet a whole other, wonderful, new, remarkable development: the flowering of the No More Homeless Pets movement.

And today, more and more communities, all over the country, are working toward the day when every dog or cat that's ever born can be guaranteed a good home with a loving family as Best Friends works with people and humane groups everywhere to build successful local programs.

And So to the Future . . .

For those of us who began Best Friends, there were always two fundamentals: First, the animals themselves, and doing the best we can for them; and second, finding a better way of life for ourselves and others.

Back in the Sixties, in our teens and twenties, we'd tried many different directions, gone in and out of different organizations, and started our own, several times over, trying to discover what worked.

None of what we found in those early days was the answer. But although we came from many different backgrounds, we shared a common concern for the animals and nature, and we were committed to the mission of a better world through kindness to animals.

Today, there are more than a quarter of a million people who are members of Best Friends and share those same basic values. And we can say, with some certainty, that this simple combination - kindness and respect toward the animals, and the simple philosophy of the Golden Rule - are the basis of a lifestyle that works.

Indeed, over the last 15 years, people from all over the world have been writing to Best Friends every day, often using almost identical words when they say: "I thought I was the only person (at work, at school, in the office, even sometimes at home) who felt this way about the animals. Now I know I'm not."

There are probably millions of people, all over the world, who share the same basic understanding that kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us.

Thank you for being part of this work of love. And whatever your own story, the path that led you to caring about the animals, we're all very privileged to be able to count you among our own Best Friends.