Years working in the pet industry made me especially enthusiastic about helping pet adoption. I looked forward to our volunteer day every year. The entire office team worked together to upgrade an adoption facility. Lots of heavy lifting, planting, and painting and everyone left on the bus with a smile.
The National Geographic book 100 Best Affordable Vacations lists volunteer work as a vacation idea. In the section "nurture the big cats", the author highlights Best Friends animal sanctuary, "The country's biggest no-kill sanctuary, Best Friends of Kanab, Utah, welcomed volunteers to work with it's dogs, cats, horses, waterfowl, pigs, parrots, and rabbits to name its most common residents. On an average day, the shelter is home to 2,000 animals, rescued all across the country." The sanctuary rents cabins at reasonable rates. We chose to rent a log home offsite and make the sanctuary part of our vacation.
Due to the popularity, I recommend you plan ahead and understand whether you can schedule volunteer spots ahead. We lucked out with an extra special tour guide. As the grandson of the original land owner, he had historical stories to share while driving the mini-van around the site. He stopped and showed us the key buildings, taking time to introduce us to the animals. We hit the timing in which well known, televised pitbulls were being rescued. We cuddled with the cats. We heard about the onsite cafeteria and so glad we hit lunch timing. We ate our salad buffet lunch outside on the patio with an amazing view. Meanwhile, my dad and stepmom ate indoors with a bigger surprise - the founder joined their lunch table!
We had such a great experience, we rearranged our vacation schedule to fit in another afternoon at the sanctuary. This time we watched the horse demonstration and learned about their training techniques. By donating financially, we became part of their magazine mailing and every month, we are reminded by the amazing work at the Best Friends animal sanctuary.
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