The Purrty Dozen campaign is trying to find homes for 12 cats, and cat #7 just found a home! His name is Niles, and he was “just overlooked” for seven years. Many of the animals at Best Friends are there because they have special needs, but he was really perfectly fine…just needed a forever home! He finally found one with a woman from Flagstaff, Arizona – it must be nice to live so close to Best Friends! So even though he’s a little grizzled looking, he’s finally got a home. Now there’s only five more of the Purrty Dozen who need homes!

The story of Max and Maureen is so adorable, I’ll let Best Friends tell it:

Adopt a pair of love-struck sweethearts?

Max noticed the voluptuous Maureen from across the glen in 2003. He approached her and offered her part of his carrot. Maureen swooned. From that point on, they were joined at the cottontail.

A year later, Max and Maureen came to Best Friends. And when they arrived at the sanctuary, surprise! Maureen was pregnant. Soon after she gave birth, Best Friends “fixed” that issue right away!

Max and Maureen spend all their time together and still act like love-crossed teen bunnies. They snuggle and kiss all day long. They’re a little shy around people, although Max can be bribed to get up close and personal with a person if there’s a strawberry or papaya treat involved. Max and Maureen would like to find a forever home together — they can’t bear the thought of ever being apart!

Now isn’t that sweet? You can sponsor me for $50 to buy both of these bunnies a sweet treat!

This is Bobbie Foster, just one of the wonderful staff members at Best Friends. If you click that link, you’ll see it takes a LOT of people to keep everything running! Not just animal specialists, either – there are landscapers, public relations managers, videographers, and even cooks! Of course they all love animals, and that’s why they’ve dedicated themselves to Best Friends.

Bobbie got her start with BFAS in 1990, almost 20 years ago, when she became a member at a fundraising table outside a store in Palo Alto, California. She worked with TNR programs and other efforts in the San Francisco area, and in 2005 she traveled to Mississippi to help animals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One year later, she decided to move to Kanab and join the staff at the ranch. Shortly after that she became the manager at CatWorld, where the cats live at the sanctuary. Remember Macaroon from early this morning? She lives there along with a few hundred other cats in a loving, caring, healthy environment where they receive only the best – all under the guidance of Bobbie Foster.

I’ve mentioned DogTown a couple of times, but I wanted to highlight the show a little bit. It airs on the National Geographic Channel and features the process of how dogs arrive at Best Friends, what medical, psychological, or other care they need, and how they go through the adoption process. It was through DogTown that I discovered Best Friends…I caught an episode one night and I was hooked! I cried with delight as Wiggles the dog, pictured here, got adopted despite his neurological problems. I asked over at the Best Friends Twitter page if they’d ever have a special CatWorld episode but they didn’t think so. So I love the dogs, but I really love the peeks at the cats that the show affords me. Anyway, it’s a great show, check it out if you get that channel!

Ever wondered what happened to NFL player Michael Vick’s dogs when he was busted for dogfighting and sentenced to jail? They went to Best Friends! 22 of Vick’s pit bulls were sent to the sanctuary in Utah, where they had to undergo major therapy. I’ve seen on DogTown that gentle dogs are given green collars when they arrive, and aggressive dogs are given red collars – that way staff can know at a glance who’s friendly and who’s ferocious. I have no doubt that most of the Vick dogs were given red collars just for safety reasons, because even the “bait” dogs – the ones used as fodder for the fighting dogs to practice on – would have been terrified and might have bitten handlers out of fear. Through extensive rehabilitation, the Vicktory dogs have been getting better. And one of them was just adopted to a new forever home! She won’t ever have to run in fear again.

If you’d like to help support the truly amazing work Best Friends does, please sponsor me in this blogathon. We’re almost halfway there, but the hardest part is still to come!

Although Best Friends does quite a lot of work just at the ranch, they also work nationwide and even globally. That’s why I’ve picked BFAS as my #1 charity – because the work they do affects lives around the world. (My wife and I also donate $120/yr to the Human Rights Campaign, BTW.) Best Friends is not just limited to Utah. Through four major campaigns, they do good works for animals around the world:

• First Home Forever Home – a “forever home” is a place an animal can spend the rest of its natural life; BFAS educates people about pet ownership and helps them make the commitment
• Focus on Felines – implements Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs nationwide, establishes microchip programs, relocates at-risk “community” cats
• Puppies Aren’t Products – huge campaign against puppy mills and pet stores, BFAS has rescued SO many animals from mills!
• Saving America’s Dog – fights breed specific legislation (BSL) particularly against pit bulls and other bully breeds

They also have a large Best Friends Los Angeles program that works with local shelters, TNR groups, etc. and a social networking site for volunteers to coordinate in other locations!

And that thing about international…well, there’s an episode of DogTown featuring Rush, a shepherd mix who came from the Middle East!

You know, giving money isn’t the only way to donate something to Best Friends. They also have several wish lists that need fulfilling! They need everything from office supplies (anybody got a spare HP Officejet H470 mobile printer?) to shade umbrellas for the bunnies, from tools for the maintenance department to frequent flier miles to help people who can adopt animals get to the sanctuary to meet them! Yes indeed, adopters come from all over the country, but they must come to the ranch first to meet the animal. BFAS also needs the usual plush dog toys, cat beds, and everything else you can think of. Check out the lists, or if you’d rather just give money, sponsor me now!

I’ve been showcasing cat after cat, but it’s time to spread the love! This is Cha Cha, a three-year-old guinea pig who used to live at a hoarder’s house. Hoarding is a mental illness where people “collect” animals, and although they believe they can care for them all, it quickly gets out of control. Unfortunately, Cha Cha is diabetic, and she needs a special diet and regular vet care, and she was not getting that with the hoarders. It’s not hard to care for a diabetic guinea pig, it’s really not…but it’s more than can be expected of someone with over 100 pets, which many hoarders have.

It seems that guinea pigs are social animals, because Cha Cha’s adoption page – yes, you can adopt her! – says she “would really love it if you let her bring a friend.” There are a few other guinea pigs up for adoption too, some of them came to the sanctuary together, and most of them want to stay with their friends! But hoarding is just a bad situation for any animal, large or small…it’s good to have more than one pet, but hoarding is dangerous (and criminal).

Best Friends has cared for many, many animals from hoarding situations. They’re awesome!

In my last Best Friends post, I told you that Desiree might not make it. Now is a good opportunity to tell you about Angels’ Rest, the place where animals who pass away at the sanctuary go. It’s been featured on an episode of DogTown, the National Geographic Channel show filmed at the sanctuary. Every time an animal passes away, they are buried at Angels’ Rest. The website lists over 10 years of memorial donations peoplehave given to Best Friends, and there is a support forum for people whose pets are leaving this world (or who already have). The Rainbow Bridge story has meant a lot to me when I have lost my pets…I know that Amanita, Toadstool, and Empress Wu are playing together across the bridge. Well, actually, Toadstool is sitting in a basket watching Wu and Amanita. She never was very active!

Every animal has a forever home at Best Friends if they need it – even after they don’t need care anymore, they are still kept where they are loved. If you sponsor me, you’ll have the opportunity to make a memorial donation, too.

This adorable fluffy thing is Desiree, a new resident at Best Friends, and actually a new resident in the world as you can tell! She is part of the Best Friends Guardian Angel program, which takes a $240 annual membership and goes specificially toward helping animals in dire straits like Desiree. She was found with a terrible wound and severely dehydrated. And you know what? She’s doing better. She made it through her first night! She’s not out of the woods, and you know what? Not all the animals who come to Best Friends survive. But they are given the best chance they would have anywhere. BFAS has expert veterinarians and specialists, and if there is any hope for an animal, they’ll find it at Best Friends.

And of course, kittens are easily adoptable. If Desiree survives, she may lose a leg, but she’ll find a home. Don’t forget to sponsor me and give money to Desiree! You can do $10/hr and become a Guardian Angel, or just give whatever you can…anything at all. You’ll be entered into my contest to win a $25 Amazon gift card!