Angel's Rest

Angel's Rest

Our Cabin- the far right unit

At the gift shop with Tiggs and Adam

On Tour

The Angel Village Cafe

Favorite Things to Do at Best Friends

If you go:

*Stay at the cabins, they are awesome, and if you are a member (only a $25 donation!) traveling off season (Dec-Mar) they are only $55/night and have all the comforts of home including cable, kitchenette, shower, coffee, and fridge/microwave http://www.bestfriends.org/atthesanctuary/angelcanyon/

*Eat at Angel Village- every day at noon for staff and volunteers, the chef at Angel Village cooks an amazing vegetarian buffet for only $4!!!!  Our lunch included stuffed red and green peppers, homeade fresh vegetable soup, salad bar, fresh fruit, tomato salad, mini cheesecakes, coffee, tea, etc!  The view is also AMAZING!

*Take a sanctuary dog on an outing or a sleepover.  BF relies on people giving the animals many experiences with different people in different situations.  If you do not bring your own dogs to BF, they will allow you to choose an adoptable animal for an overnight, then give that dogs' caregivers a full report card so that they know how the dog did, and if they have to work on any issues- this helps the dog be more adoptable and have less chance of being returned.  I'm told you can even do a sleepover with a Pot Bellied Pig!

*Visit Angel's Rest- it is a peaceful and tranquil place where many loved animals have been 'tucked in.'  It will give you chills and take your breath away.

*Hike the extensive, well built and maintained trail network that surrounds the thousands of acres around Angel Canyon

*Sponsor an animal- if you can't adopt one, help one out!  There are links on each animal that help you donate whatever you can to assist in the care of that kind soul like Tina Louise or Theresa

*Shop at the gift shop- they have many cool items for you and your furry friends.  Consider buying some windchimes or prayer flags if you or someone you know has lost a beloved pet.  They also have lots of logo wear and artwork, all of the profits go back to the animals there!

*Take a tour, it's a beautiful 90 minute ride through gorgeous canyon country, where red rock views and juniper trees speckle the land.  Along the way, you'll get to see all the places the animals call home

Best Friends- An Overview

Nicole- probably a 'bait dog' from a dogfighting ring (she is not one of the Vicktory dogs).

Best Friends is located in Kanab, Utah, in Angel Canyon. The sanctuary is home to many animals, including horses, kitties, over 500 dogs, pot bellied pigs, birds and more. BF has gotten a lot of publicity in the past year because they took in Micheal Vick's 22 pit bulls that were rescued from his hellish dogfighting compound. Renamed the Vicktory Dogs, BF has been profiled on the National Geographic series Dogtown, which is the name of the areas that house most of the dogs living at BF.

BF was started in the 70's by a group of 25 friends who felt there were animals that needed another chance in life, and they got some money together to purchase some land where they could create a heaven on earth for animals that were deemed unadoptable, or unworthy to others. Since then, they have become the largest no-kill sanctuary in the country, if not the world. They were on the ground for Hurricane Katrina, the bombings of Lebanon, the streets of Bosnia, etc. They've been there to assist in rescuing puppies from puppy mills, animal hoarders, and more. They have created a safe haven for all animals, and they have about a 75% adoption rate. Many animals have such special needs that they will need to live at the Sanctuary for the rest of their lives, but those days will be guaranteed to be safe and loving and free from abuse or neglect.

You can learn more about BF by clicking my link on the bar to the right, and please consider sponsoring an animal, or making a donation if you can. All week I will try to post a picture of a Sanctuary animal and some stories from the trip.

Blogging Best Friends

Adam and I just returned from an incredible weekend of volunteering down at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.  I will be blogging in short installments all week about the experience, because it is just too cool for one post, plus I have a lot of pics!

If you want a sneak peak, you can go 

here http://flickr.com/photos/dzinelvrslc/sets/72157609842965559/ for some pics, and more pics and stories will follow!

Judging a Dog by the Color of it's Skin

As I'm contemplating applying for a job that would relocate us to Denver, I'm appalled to learn that Denver is still enforcing what is known to be the cruelist, most strict breed ban in the country.  That's right, if you live in Denver city limits, it is illegal to have a pitbull or any one of the 20 or so breeds that remotely look like a pitbull.  Even if your dog has some physical traits common to pitbulls, you run the risk of having your dog removed from your home, impounded, and euthanized for absolutely no reason.

Denver has taken and euthanized (what a euphemism!), how about taken and MURDERED, nearly 2,000 innocent family pets since it's inception in 1989.  There are absolutely no exceptions, and if your dog isn't even a pitbull, the burden of proof falls upon the owner to prove the lineage of their beloved family member, before it is placed on death row for slaughter.

One ignorant city council person went so far as to say:  'Pitbulls are like sharks;  they will rip the flesh of of any human being.'  Hmmmm....Wow.......

Best Friends has some great information on BSL, or Breed Specific Legislation- you can read about it here:  http://network.bestfriends.org/pitbullspecialfeature/news/

I was also equally appalled to find out that PETA, of all groups, is also anti pit bull.  Here is a paragraph I just copied from their position statement:

Legislatures across the country are increasingly seeking to ban pit bulls in an effort to crack down on dogfighting and prevent attacks by pit bulls. PETA supports legislation that bans the breeding of pit bulls, just as we support any spay/neuter legislation as the most effective way to combat the tragic companion animal overpopulation problem. We also support pit bull bans, as long as they include a grandfather clause allowing all living dogs who are already in good homes and well cared for to live the remainder of their lives safely and peacefully.

Well, the problem with that, PETA, is that in cities like Denver, there is no "Grandfather Clause" unless the dogs were born before 1989...ever heard of a 19 year old pit bull??  And the city will rip family pets out of loving homes and kill them.  How is that remotely humane????

Punish the deed, NOT the breed people.

I Am So EXCITED!

My absolute favorite design blog that I check a hundred times a day, Apartment Therapy, has posted a photo of my living room that they got from my Flickr account.  This is so exciting to me, as I look each and every day to AT for design inspiration!  How cool!

Here's a link:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/at-home-cure-la/southwest-fall-cure-planning-and-purging-week-four-weekend-068938

Update on Tiggs

 This was Tiggs a few days ago.

This is a pic from less than a year ago

 Tiggs is doing so much better- his PCV's are in the remission range, but as you can see, the drugs that have helped in his recovery have ravaged his body a fair bit. Yesterday, we were able to lower his Prednisone again- that was great! He is now on what would be considered a 'low dose.' However, as you can see, the muscle wasting around his head, and back legs is pretty tremendous. Even though his dose at it's current level would not be enough to cause this, the previous doses were so high, that this occurred over a just few weeks time after his initial diagnosis. I'm told by other survivors of IMHA that this muscle damage could take a year to reverse- but it will reverse after he is off of Pred. He has also yet to grow back the fur that was shaved off of his two front legs on July 16 for his blood transfusion. 

Through it all, Tiggs always has a kiss and a tail wag for his vet, and all of his friends- human and canine, every time he sees them. Also, he now ways 70 lbs! This is 10 more lbs than he has ever weighed, and if this picture showed his mid-section, you would think that he swallowed a barrel- this is partly from the meds, but also due to his large fan club at BD that bring him treats everyday.  He loves them so much!  Also, Tiggs has been going on long walks every night to help him get strong.  He is still able to pull me pretty hard, and he can go at a good clip for about an hour, which is wonderful to see.

Lovely Weekend

Once again we enjoyed helping out No More Homeless Pets at another adoption event on Sunday.  I'm happy to say that both dogs profiled on my last post have been adopted!  Yayyy.  Happy Dance.  My friend Claire adopted Taz, and I think they will be great partners in crime, and Taige went to live with a nice woman in Idaho with a soft spot for border collies, and a lot of land.

We also had the awesome experience of attending a wine pairing/tasting class donated by The Vitner's Palate to an auction benefitting Wasatch Community Gardens.  My friends Laura (who works at WCG) and her husband Matt invited four couples to join them and the dinner was held at the home of Mike and Andrea, who own the Vitner's Palate.  Their home was lovely, and oh so cozy, and Andrea is an artist and gourmet cook who kept little plates of deliciousness coming at every turn.  We sat at their dining room table for four hours, tasting wines from around the world- first sparkling for the welcome, then into many reds, an exotic white from Spain, and then two ports for desert.  The menu was totally delightful, ranging from fresh fruits and homeade crackers, to stuffed mushrooms, homeade fried ravioli stuffed with pinenuts, garlic, and sundried tomatoes, to salmon puffs.  Did I mention the artisan cheeses and bruschetta topped with their garden's tomatoes????  

Top this off with cinamon dusted chocolate and figs stuffed with blue cheese washed down with both tawny and ruby port, and you have the most relaxing and delicious evening.  Mike is available for events, and as a former winemaker from Oregon, he's both down to earth, and very knowledgable.  You can contact him at http://thevintnerspalate.com/.