Discover Best Friends animal sanctuary. It’s a place where every animal is safe and who will never be euthanized.

It all began with a group of young men and women. They pooled every penny they had to buy 3,000 acres of desert in Utah. The sanctuary would go on to become the most famous no-kill animal sanctuary in the world.

A haven for more than 2,000 animals, from the furry to the feathered to the stiff-legged.

Animal Friends at Best Friends sanctuary include:

• Benton, the “chairpurrson” of the TLC club
• Goatie, the comforter of horses
• Baa Baa Ram Das, and the sheep who teach lessons
• Amra, the gigantic Malamute who is the sheriff of Dogtown
• Rhonda, the tiny terrier

Best Friends Animal Society was founded in 1993. The group does outreach nationwide with shelters, rescue groups, and members to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices.

The group originated in England in 1966 as the Process Church of the Final Judgment. They relocated animals from its Arizona ranch to property in Kanab, Utah.

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.

Samantha Glen is the co-author of Out of Harm’s Way. She has also written Family: Everyday Stories About The Miracle of Love, which the Family Channel honored with its Seal of Quality.

She currently writes a bi-weekly column called “Animal Talk” for a Northern Nevada newspaper.