Visiting in February, looking to move to Utah/Kanab (Best Friends)!

[dcisive]

Being an avid photographer I can say that area of Utah is the most beautiful of all. your efforts for Best Friends would be greatly appreciated. I think you'll find the folks of Kanab quite nice

[Utahooligan]

I live in SW Utah, & volunteer at BFAS regularly.

It's a nice place, or else I wouldn't put almost 700 miles a month on my (new) car just to get too/from there on a regular basis.

HOWEVER, with them being in a remote area of Utah, and having very strict controls on what animals they accept, I do not consider them to be on the front-lines of animal rescue. It's easy for them to charge hundreds of dollars for No More Homeless Pets conferences & tell people how euthanasia is wrong & pet overpopulation can be stopped, yet on the other hand, they reject dozens of animals a day in order to maintain their 'no-kill' (unless it's for quality of life reasons, which is really the same rationale the 'kill' shelters use) status, and love to accept animals that'll give them the best publicity.

In my experience, the real front-lines are those rescue organizations & shelters that are located in heavily populated areas, and thus on a daily basis have to deal with all the morons who think they're doing the group a favor by bringing in a boxload of pitbull puppies, who don't bother to check the shelter if their dog gets lost, etc. These are the places that have to deal with the ugly realities, and play god with animal's lives, because unlike Best Friends, they accept any & every animal brought into them each day & are overloaded & overwhelmed. I've been a soldier in that war, & would much rather be back there on that battlefront, with the potential to actually save a life. So BFAS is a great place of like-minded people & the volunteers coming in from all over the world are wonderful to meet & work with, but too many of them spend a few days or a week at BF once a year but then go home & don't volunteer at their local shelters, where the animals & staff really, really need the help.

Moving from an urban or suburban area to Kanab would result in some major culture-shock, at least initially offset by the great natural beauty of the region. Some Kanab old-timers resent BFAS & the impact it's had & has on the community. My guestimate is that 50% of the visitors spending $$$ in Kanab are there for BFAS, the other 50% are just there because of it being the crossroads to various National Parks.

[freddie24]

I am seriously considering moving to Kanab, Utah. My dream is to work at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Can anyone give me info about the area, schools, friendliness, activities for children, etc? Many thanks!

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by freddie24

I am seriously considering moving to Kanab, Utah. My dream is to work at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Can anyone give me info about the area, schools, friendliness, activities for children, etc? Many thanks!

Freddie, I'm going to refer you to the thread called "Kanab the truth." Best Friends is an absolutely incredible place. I love it! That doesn't mean a move to Kanab would necessarily be in your best interest.