Sponsor an animal a month for a year at Best Friends Animal Society

Another bashful, mellow, loving short-legged herding dog – just like Sadie! I had no choice but to sponsor handsome Scurry!

Scurry is the best….but sometimes folks pass him by because he doesn’t come right up to you or ask for attention. So he’s sort of the “best dog you never noticed was there”. But now that you’re seeing him on the Internet, on his very own page, maybe this is a good time to notice what everyone else has been missing and sign up to sponsor him!

Scurry enjoys being petted and will gently tap you with his paw to ask for more. He’s housetrained, behaves like a real gentleman when people take him on outings, and often wears a terrific smile.

Scurry seems to get along with everyone – including other dogs. When he gets lonely, he tosses a toy in the air to himself and tries to catch it. So cute!

He was born in just 2008, so he’s young, but he struggles to his feet with effort sometimes, and walks like an old man because one leg is shorter than the others. He can’t help it, and he promises he doesn’t let it get him down!

He’s a terrific dog, and although he may seem shy to visitors, in truth, he’s a snuggle-bug who’s dying to be loved by you! Sponsor Scurry today!

Peanut the cat didn’t have any good reasons to trust people. She was living in southern Utah as part of a feral colony when somebody shot her. The resulting injury left Peanut paralyzed in her back legs. Afterward, she came to live at Best Friends. Peanut was safe and her needs were met, but beyond that, she didn’t want any further help. Certainly not any affection.

The caregivers looking after her put a ramp from the floor to a window, which allowed Peanut to climb up and stare out at the world. She spent most of her time on that windowsill with a rather blank look on her face.

Then one of Peanut’s caregivers had an idea. A wild, crazy, never-gonna-fly idea, but she thought she’d try it anyway. (You only live once, right?) Michelle thought that maybe she could try petting Peanut at the same time that she fed her. And you know what? It worked! Peanut was so focused on getting food that she didn’t seem to mind a little human contact, even though she’d always shied away from it before.

Everything changed after that. It took time, but Peanut warmed up to the petting thing bit by bit. And then one day, the unbelievable happened. Peanut purred! This feral cat, who’d been paralyzed by human cruelty, actually purred. “That was a pretty neat day,” Michelle admits.

Since then, Peanut has grown to trust other people besides Michelle. She even allows strangers to pet her sometimes. Not always right away, and sometimes not at all, but it happens. More and more as time goes by. And with this revelation that people can be friends after all, Peanut has been spending a whole lot less time staring out the window. Instead, she explores her surroundings and says hello to those around her. Good for her! Life was never meant to be a spectator sport.

Why not show your support by sponsoring Peanut today? She would love more friends!

After sponsoring little Baby, I felt so good I began to search for a dog to sponsor. All my life I have LOVED dogs, but I’ve always had small ones so I was searching for a smaller one to sponsor this first time. My precious angel Muggsy just went through a glaucoma scare, so imagine my surprise when I came across this little boy:

Mugesi is a boy with a lot of spunk! Of course, this sassy personality might be due to the pain he has had in his eye for a long time. He had chronic glaucoma that was left untreated and was causing him a lot of pain. The only way to make Mugesi feel better is to remove the eye. He is having it removed and will feel so much better!

Mugesi was brought here because his previous person had passed away and the family couldn’t care for him anymore with his special health problem. Of course, I am sure once he makes a solid recovery, Mugesi will be in great spirits and ready to find a new home.

Until he finds his special people, won’t you consider making Mugesi your special sponsor friend?

This goal was inspired by Wren. After reading her entries, I visited the Best Friends website for the first time. For many years I had a fuzzy, long-haired cat named Baby, with big green eyes and a nose highlighted by lighter fur. She developed many health problems as she aged, including incontinence in her last weeks. I almost immediately found this little girl:

Anyone who loves frisky kittens will adore Baby! She bats at jingly things, and turns herself upside down in fits of playfulness. You’d almost think she knows how cute she is! This fur-baby looks a little bit like a bowling ball from a certain angle—she’s all fluff and roundness! She was born with a useless back leg that juts out strangely. But she is still able to walk and play.

Baby was born in mid-2002. Her family brought her to a vet, asking to have her birth defect fixed. (Along with the jutting leg, she is incontinent). When the vet said she could not be fully repaired, they requested that she be put down. The vet, enraptured by this happy, playful kitten, could not do it and called Best Friends instead. She now lives and plays here at Kitty Motel

but I am in love with this dog, who is currently being cared for by Friends of the Animals, the group Sadie came from. His name is Moe, and he is a young border collie. He is so adorable, I just had to sponsor him and post his photo here for all the 43T animal lovers to enjoy. :)

It’s hard to believe his people abandoned him in his time of need..

Have you ever been hit by a semi-truck, Debo has!

Hard to believe, but the tough little guy not only survived, he came away from the accident almost as good as new. Although Debo has a little curvature of the spine, which only adds to his cuteness when he wriggles for attention from people.

He got fixed up at the Best Friends clinic after his run-in with the truck. But then his person never came back to bring him home! Debo wriggled day and night, waiting, but he never saw him again.

Debo is a mellow dog, and he likes ladies the best. And he enjoys looking for lizards on his walks. But he really needs to be an only pet, he doesn’t like other dogs or cats. Born in just 2007, he hopes it’s not too late to find a home again!

She lived for years alone in a cage.

For years, that was her home – a cage in a cement building at a failing animal sanctuary in New York. She hadn’t seen the outside world until Best Friends came along and rescued her.

She still lives alone at Best Friends because she doesn’t enjoy the company of other dogs. But that’s OK; that’s the way she wants it and she deserves a little control over her life for once.

Ms. Martha enjoys the company of people, but she’s bashful. She won’t come to you. But if you approach her, she’ll sit there quietly and accept your affection. She’d also enjoy a long walk with you.

It’s been a very sad life so far.

Ms. Martha would be so happy to find a quiet adult home where she is the only dog. If she can’t be your one and only she would love a sponsor friend!

Daphne is a darling Sheltie-mix who came to Best Friends from a shelter in North Carolina. She is having trouble finding a home because she grew up on the streets and is very afraid of people. But Daphne loves her new life at Dogtown where she can play all day with her own kind and slowly but surely get used to those two-legged creatures. (After all, they at least know how to serve a good dinner!)

Sponsor Daphne while she learns to trust again. She would love your encouragement and support!

a great horse for April!

“Useless? That’s what Cowboy’s family called him when they threatened to sell him to a slaughterhouse. Cowboy has a swayback so he wasn’t useful, they said, as a work horse or anything else. Hadn’t they ever heard of the usefulness of a good friend? Cowboy is intelligent, quiet, and very people-oriented. Surely, such a friend is useful!

Cowboy was rescued from that family and eventually came to Best Friends. We find that this five year old quarter-horse gelding is a little like a big dog. He likes to hang around people, and he can be as playful as a pup.

He can’t be ridden with that swayback of his, and he might need to see a chiropractor someday. But he’d just love to have a family of his own. He’s up for adoption and sponsorship.”

It’s Skydance!

Skydance is a Great Horned owl. Of the three living at Best Friends, Skydance is known as “the shy one”. Quite independent (frequently deep in thought), she’s the sort who will make you play hide and seek before she’ll “come with”. But once her caregivers have her, this round-faced ball of feathers is quite endearing. Skydance was injured, which is why she can no longer live in the wild. If you look carefully, you’ll see that this poor girl is missing both a wing and a foot! But she likes it at Best Friends, and is learning how to be an “educational owl”, teaching the children about wildlife.