Best Friends Animal Society Explained

Best Friends Animal Society
Tax Id:23-7147797[1]
Founded Date:[2] [3]
Founders:[4]
Headquarters:Kanab, Utah
Addnl Location City:Atlanta, Georgia
Bentonville, Arkansas
Houston, Texas
Los Angeles, California
New York City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Origins:Foundation Faith of the Millennium;
Process Church of the Final Judgment
Leader Name:Julie Castle[5]
Leader Title:Chief Executive Officer
Leader Name2:Francis Battista
Leader Title2:Chair, Board of Directors
Leader Name3:Marc A. Peralta
Leader Title3:Executive Director
Focus:Animal welfare, animal rights
Mission:To bring about a time when there are No More Homeless Pets.[6]
Status:501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[7]
Formerly:Best Friends Animal Sanctuary;
Foundation Faith of the Millennium; Process Church of the Final Judgement
Employees:838
Employees Year:2015
Volunteers:9,748
Volunteers Year:2015
Revenue:$87,144,293
Revenue Year:2016
Expenses:$81,852,232
Expenses Year:2016
Coordinates:37.1258°N -112.5437°W
Endowment:$19,383,509
Subsidiaries:Best Friends Productions LLC,
1089 Wykoff LLC,
307 West Broadway LLC,
Chuff LLC,
Amber Housing LLC, Best Friends Wellness Center Inc

Best Friends Animal Society, (BFAS) founded in its present form in 1993, is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization based in Kanab, Utah with satellite offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Bentonville, Arkansas, Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, California, New York City, and Salt Lake City, Utah.[8] It also has a partnership network with shelters, rescue groups and members in all 50 states and Washington, DC, to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices.[9] Best Friends has a 4-star 'Give With Confidence' rating from Charity Navigator.[10]

History

The group originated in England in 1966 as the Process Church of the Final Judgment,[11] co-founded by Mary Ann MacLean, who was married to former church member and Best Friends Animal Society co-founder Gabriel Depeyer,[12] and who lived on Best Friends' sanctuary grounds until her 2005 death.[13] The Foundation church relocated animals from its Arizona ranch to property in Kanab, Utah, in 1984.[14] In 1991, the church was renamed Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which became a tax-exempt, nonprofit charity, and in 2003, renamed Best Friends Animal Society.[15]

In 2019, Best Friends Animal Society and Southern Utah University began a partnership that included a new certificate program at SUU that included coursework on how to set up and run a no-kill animal shelter.[16]

In 2020, NASCAR driver Alex Bowman added a Best Friends Animal Society paint scheme to his stock car to raise support for animal rescue. Ally Financial and Bowman pledged to make a total of $30,000 in donations to Best Friend affiliated shelters in race host cities during the 2021 season.

Utah animal sanctuary

After the Foundation church moved to its current grounds in 1984, the founders eventually informally called it "Best Friends" until 1991 when it began formally operating as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter[17] located in Southwestern Utah in Angel Canyon (formerly Kanab Canyon) near Kanab.[18]

The sanctuary is on 3700acres with an additional 33000acres leased from the United States Bureau of Land Management near Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon's North Rim, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Lake Powell. The sanctuary is home to around 1,500 homeless animals.[19]

Every kind of animal has its own area, considered neighborhoods, which includes Bunny House, Dogtown and Cat World among others. Animals that are unable to be placed in permanent homes and wild animals that cannot be released back into the wild can live out their lives at the sanctuary.[20]

Los Angeles adoption center

In 2011, the city of Los Angeles contracted Best Friends to operate in its Northeast Valley Shelter facility in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, which the city could no longer afford to run due to budget cuts.[21] Under the contract, BFAS was to provide adoptions for shelter animals it obtained solely from LA Animal Service shelters, and to provide spay and neuter services for the community. The contract prohibited BFAS from obtaining animals from any other sources, such as public intake or transfers from other organizations.[22] Best Friends was the only bidder for the contract to run the shelter that had cost the taxpayers $19 million to build just three years prior. There was controversy when other humane organizations discovered the contract, and complained that they had not been notified of the solicitation for bids.[23], BFAS no longer operate the shelter due to mismanagement.[24]

Magazine

BFAS publishes Best Friends, a bimonthly magazine about animals, animal welfare, news events, and activities at the sanctuary. The magazine, which is distributed free to members, has 200,000 subscribers.[25] Originating as Foundation magazine in 1975 with its interview of Charles Manson referred to as the "death" issue, the first edition of Best Friends magazine was published in 1993, two years after the religious group became an animal sanctuary.[26]

Hurricane Katrina work

Best Friends teams entered the Hurricane Katrina disaster area on September 2, 2005, and stayed eight months in and around New Orleans.[27] Best Friends did not have a significant presence doing animal disaster rescue or recovery work until Katrina.

The organization's official role post-Hurricane Katrina was that of a primary animal rescue organization[28] [29] overseen by animal specialist and then-Best Friends employee Sherry Woodard.[30]

Also after Katrina, Best Friends helped Pets Alive, an animal shelter in New York state, and rescued around 800 cats from an institutional hoarding situation in Nevada.[31] Best Friends also assisted local animal rescue groups following the Peruvian earthquakes of 2007.[32]

Michael Vick dogs

In 2007, after petitioning the state of Virginia to save the dogs seized from the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting investigation, Best Friends took in 22 of the 47 fighting dogs of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick. The dogs were expected to be euthanized for fear of aggressive behavior.[33] Seven other organizations took in the remaining 25 dogs. The court ordered Vick to pay $928,073 in restitution for the "past, present and long-term care of all the dogs." The court allocated $5,000 for dogs deemed likely to be adopted, and $18,275 for each of the dogs that went into longer-term or lifetime sanctuary care at Best Friends.[34] [35]

In December 2008, Georgia, a former Vick dog, appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Best Friends dog trainer John Garcia.[36] The two also appeared on CNN's Larry King Live.[37]

Rehabilitation of the Vick dogs appeared in an episode of National Geographic Channel's series DogTown. DogTowns producer, Darcy Dennett, later approached Best Friends about a feature-length documentary on the same story.[38]

Released in October 2015, The Champions is a documentary that covers the stories of five dogs and their impact they had had on their adopters and how society looks at pit bulls rescued from fighting cases.[39] The film received the 2015 Zelda Penzel "Giving Voice to the Voiceless" award at Hamptons International Film Festival.[40] The film also features the work of both Best Friends Animal Society and BAD RAP, an Oakland-based animal welfare rescue group. FilmRise acquired film rights in November 2015.[41] It was released through community screenings[42] and became available digitally in March 2016.[43]

Community cat programs

In August 2008, Best Friends and PetSmart Charities funded a program called "Feral Freedom" for free-roaming community cats in Jacksonville, Florida.[44] [45] The program was conceived by Rick Ducharme of First Coast No More Homeless Pets.

Similar programs were funded with a grant from PetSmart Charities and implemented by Best Friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico; DeKalb County, Georgia; San Antonio, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Osceola County, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;[46] and other communities.[47] In St. George, Utah, the city partnered with Best Friends on a trap-neuter-return program in January 2013.[48]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Best Friends Animal Society. Guidestar. September 30, 2016.
  2. Web site: Process Church/Best Friends Articles of Incorporation . Louisiana Secretary of State . 2017-09-08 . 2016-03-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305154629/https://www.scribd.com/doc/2682018/Best-Friends-Animal-Society-Articles-of-Incorporation . live .
  3. "Best Friends Animal Society ". Entity Details. Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  4. "Meet the Founders ". Best Friends Animal Society. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  5. "Leadership ". Best Friends Animal Society. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  6. "Our Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles ". Best Friends Animal Society. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  7. Web site: Best Friends Animal Society, Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. August 31, 2021.
  8. Web site: Locations. 10 July 2023. en-US.
  9. Web site: Article, American Dog Magazine, "Los Angeles Programs Saves Lives in the Entertainment Capital of the World". 19 October 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204049/http://www.content.theamericandogmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135. 3 March 2016.
  10. Web site: Charity Navigator - Rating for Best Friends Animal Society. 2021-09-22. www.charitynavigator.org. en-US.
  11. Book: Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgement . Timothy Wyllie . . 2009 . 978-1-932595-37-6.
  12. News: Kilzer, Lou. February 28, 2004. Friends find their calling. Rocky Mountain News.
  13. Web site: Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment. July 22, 2009. LA Weekly.
  14. Book: Glen, Samantha . Best Friends: The True Story of the World's Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary . 2001 . Kensington . 978-1-57566-735-5 .
  15. News: Friends Find Their Calling . . February 28, 2004 . July 31, 2012 . August 12, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140812213321/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1011201973DE3D37&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM . live . (pay-per-view article)
  16. Web site: Southern Utah University to teach students how to run a no-kill animal shelter. 2021-04-23. The Salt Lake Tribune. en-US.
  17. Web site: AR-News: (UT) Best Friends a haven for unwanted animals. envirolink.org. 2008-03-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20060512091556/http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20031006/007627.html. 2006-05-12. dead.
  18. Web site: Best Friends, an Animal Sanctuary with a Difference, with Faith Maloney, by Diane Cooper. netmar.com. 2007-10-17. 2020-08-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20200823224053/https://spiritofmaat.com/archive/sep3/maloney.htm. live.
  19. Web site: Voluntourism - Peter Greenberg Travel Detective. 26 May 2007. petergreenberg.com. 14 January 2017. 16 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116162356/http://petergreenberg.com/voluntourism/. live.
  20. Web site: 2010-05-24. Best Friends Animal Society. 2021-04-23. Saving Earth Encyclopedia Britannica. en.
  21. Web site: Los Angeles to hand over animal shelter to nonprofit group . August 17, 2011. Los Angeles Times. 19 October 2014. Kate. Linthicum. 9 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141109201324/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/17/local/la-me-0817-animal-shelter-20110817. live.
  22. Web site: L.A. shelter deal transfers cash crunch to Best Friends. January 1, 2012. Marritt. Clifton. Animals 24-7.
  23. Web site: Nonprofit to run city shelter. Los Angeles Daily News. Rick. Orlov. August 16, 2011. 2011-08-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20120924061842/http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18696494?source=rss. 2012-09-24. dead.
  24. Web site: 'No Kill' Has Failed. 'Best Friends' Leaves LA City Animal Services Shelter, Annenberg Steps In. City Watch. Phyllis. Daughertry. 22 August 2022. en-US.
  25. News: A close look at Best Friends Animal Society . https://archive.today/20141002012717/http://www.albertleatribune.com/2009/04/a-close-look-at-best-friends-animal-society/ . dead . October 2, 2014 . April 25, 2009 . Albert Lea Tribune .
  26. Web site: The Process Church Timeline (magazine history, page 22). feralhouse.com. 2014-08-10. 2013-05-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20130505143739/http://feralhouse.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/LSFD_timeline.pdf. live.
  27. Web site: Art spotlights rescue of New Orleans pets. Nancy. Perkins. 1 September 2007. deseretnews.com. 16 December 2007. 28 February 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090228171055/http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C695206279%2C00.html. live.
  28. News: Animal welfare groups rescue abandoned pets . USA Today . Anita . Manning . September 3, 2005 . April 26, 2010 . October 20, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111020122742/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-03-katrinapetrescues_x.htm . live .
  29. Web site: Shaggy survivors still hanging on after Katrina - Health - Pet health - NBC News. NBC News. 19 October 2014. 5 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072752/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9900273/. dead.
  30. Web site: 'Dogtown': National Geographic Channel series profiles Utah's Best Friends Animal Society. The Salt Lake Tribune.
  31. Web site: Volunteers say justice not served . Pahrump Valley Times . February 19, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092956/http://archive.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2010/Feb-19-Fri-2010/news/34381259.html . October 6, 2014 . dead . October 2, 2014 .
  32. Web site: Salt Lake Tribune. 19 October 2014. 24 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115703/http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6928266. live.
  33. Web site: A History of Dogfighting. NPR.org. July 19, 2007 . 2018-04-04. 2018-04-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20180413191158/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12108421. live. Villavicencio . Monica .
  34. Web site: Vick Case Exposes Rift Among Animal-Rights Advocates. William C.. Rhoden. 12 March 2008. The New York Times. 17 May 2018. 10 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180210092814/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/sports/football/12rhoden.html. live.
  35. Web site: Michael Vick's dogs get a second chance - The Daily Nightly - msnbc.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20090524220953/http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/20/1938942.aspx. dead. May 24, 2009. May 24, 2009.
  36. Web site: "DogTown's John Garcia Shares His Story," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," December 15, 2008. EllenTV. 19 October 2014. 24 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120224030243/http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/12/dogtowns_john_garcia_shares_hi.php?page=2. dead.
  37. Web site: CNN transcripts, "Larry King Live," "Does Michael Vick Deserve A Second Chance?" with Best Friends' John Garcia and former fighting dog Georgia. 19 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20120219235612/http://www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0908/17/lkl.01.html. 19 February 2012. dead.
  38. Web site: HIFF 2015: Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights. hamptonsfilmfest.org. 2020-08-23. 2019-07-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20190701202033/http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/hiff-2015-compassion-justice-animal-rights/. live.
  39. Web site: The Champions (2015) - IMDb. www.imdb.com. 2020-08-23. 2015-11-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20151113050505/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4125222/plotsummary. live.
  40. Web site: HIFF 2015: Awards. hamptonsfilmfest.org. 2020-08-23. 2019-08-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20190831092657/http://hamptonsfilmfest.org/hiff-2015-awards/. live.
  41. Web site: FilmRise Nabs Worldwide Rights To Pit Bull Rescue Documentary 'The Champions'. Denise. Petski. November 24, 2015. April 17, 2020. December 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191216050226/https://deadline.com/2015/11/filmrise-worldwide-rights-the-champions-documentary-pit-bulls-michael-vick-1201637057/. live.
  42. Web site: Tugg, The Champions. 2016-03-02. 2016-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306122032/https://tugg.com/titles/the-champions. live.
  43. Web site: vhx. The Champions. 2016-03-02. 2016-03-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20160302222900/http://www.championsdocumentary.com/vhx. live.
  44. Web site: First Coast No More Homeless Pets - Annual Report. fcnmhp.org. 2014-09-30. 2014-10-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006073856/http://www.fcnmhp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/annual-report-FINAL.pdf. live.
  45. Web site: "Program gives feral cats shot at freedom: More than 1,200 strays have been spayed or neutered - and saved from euthanasia," Tia Mitchell, The Florida Times-Union, November 20, 2008. 19 October 2014. 6 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006103114/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/112008/met_357958458.shtml. live.
  46. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/City-shelter-wins-700k-grant-to-save-cats.html?c=r "City shelter wins $700k grant to save cats"
  47. http://www.fcnmhp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/annual-report-FINAL.pdf "First Coast No More Homeless Pets Annual Report 10.01.12-9.30.13"
  48. http://us.vocuspr.com/Newsroom/ViewAttachment.aspx?SiteName=BFAS&Entity=PRAsset&AttachmentType=F&EntityID=45962&AttachmentID=5235b7b0-0d4a-4c7b-851f-9fc6967bc12c "St. George, Best Friends working together to save lives of community cats"

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