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Tour the Sanctuary
They come to the sanctuary
from far and wide. But once
they're here, we make sure
that nothing bad will ever
happen to them again.

Kathi McDermott, Welcome Center Manager

As the Welcome Center manager at Best Friends, Kathi McDermott manages the Welcome Center, the gift shop, guest lodging, and Angels Rest, the pet cemetery at Best Friends

Kathi has been with Best Friends since March 2004. In her previous position as a community program manager, she helped grassroots organizations to develop community programs and also helped build the new Best Friends Network. For eight months, she assisted with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort by working in the command center at the sanctuary. Before coming to Best Friends, she served as executive director of the Spay Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) in Springfield, Missouri.

Kathi's career in animal welfare began in 1994, when she passed by a PETsMART Luv-a-Pet center and met her first foster cat. Her 12 years of animal welfare experience includes foster parenting for socially challenged cats, and volunteer and board service for a no-kill shelter. Her participation in startup organizations helped her to develop skills in public relations, grant writing, newsletter publication, tax preparation, volunteer management, database management, desktop publishing, strategic planning, and many other facets of nonprofit management.

Prior to her involvement in animal welfare, Kathi worked in the business world. Her extensive business background includes administration and sales management for a major communications company, several years as a bank examiner for the FDIC, and her own pet-sitting business.

Kathi shares her home in Kanab, Utah, with some very spoiled dogs and cats.