Every Share Helps!

Today's guest writer is Cara Steinberg, who volunteered for two weeks with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. If you'd like to get involved with Best Friends, be sure to visit this page, which tells you about their volunteer and internship programs for groups and individuals.

Thank you very much, Cara!

Every year for two weeks, my high school offers a two-week project that focuses on a certain topic. Classes are canceled, and we focus on a certain area of study for that time period. This is called “Project Exploration,” or “Project X” for short. A few of these fields include cooking, interior design, an art course, and several other offerings, including study abroad programs. The school sponsored trips to Costa Rica or Utah this year. I picked Utah, and the experiences I took away from the trip will forever be a part of
me.

The seven-hour plane ride there seemed to last an eternity. So much was going through my head that nothing else seemed to matter except for landing in Utah and then the two-hour bus ride to Kanab, the
desolate little town we would be staying in for the next week.

Seriously, Kanab is in the middle of nowhere. The house where we would stay in (my teacher, his wife and about eight or so students) was surrounded by dirt-covered roads and snow-covered mountains and an
occasional house or two a few minutes away. The main part of town was a good half-hour bus ride; this place is like a ghost town out of an old Western movie.

Julia, a friendly English woman and her three-legged beagle-dachshund mix, Sasha, greeted us at Best Friends. The three legs were a result of the little dog’s injuries trying to find someplace safe away from
the rushing waters of Hurricane Katrina. Julia showed us to a conference room in the office building, followed by Sasha who was hopping as fast as her little legs could go to try to keep up with us. She showed us a movie about Best Friends and how it got started, what our jobs would be, how to act around the animals, how to take care of them, and what would be expected from us.

We were then given name tags and split up into groups. My first task was incredibly easy, yet very time consuming. I had to pop popcorn to give to the pigs at the sanctuary as a snack. It wasn’t just a few
bags though; pigs definitely live up to their stereotype of being hungry all the time. It took well over an hour to pop all the popcorn that was needed; three garbage bags, filled completely. The pigs more than welcomed their snack and made room for more when their salads came out. The salads consisted of whole heads of lettuce, huge chunks of onions and a variety of vegetables.

After we fed the pigs, it was time to feed and take care of the horses. The weather definitely was not on our side for the type of work we would be doing. Our tasks for the horses were to empty, clean and fill their water buckets, make their dinner based on each one’s individual diet, and muck out the never-ending fields that they called home. The frigid air numbed my hands as they grasped the splintering wooden handle of the shovel I was using to muck. One snowflake fell down and then another…and another…until the whole ground was snow-covered and frozen, making the fields extremely difficult to muck out. All of our hard work made it worth it when we put fresh hay and bedding down in the stalls, and saw how much the horses appreciated their new warm beds, food and water.

The horses at Best Friends, along with all the animals, are there at the sanctuary for a reason. The animals at Best Friends are there as a last resort, victims of severe abuse and neglect.

The following day was not the most enjoyable of our time at the sanctuary, considering half the day I was working with cats and I’m allergic to them, yet it was still interesting to hear all the stories of the animals and to see their progress while at Best Friends, which is a forever home to animals who need it. Our visit to the bunny house consisted of making treat-filled toys for the bunnies, giving them cheerios as a snack and holding them to help with their socialization process. A majority of the bunnies at Best Friends came
from horrible hoarding situations. This means that people “collected” bunnies and didn’t take care of them. Best Friends even had a rescue that consisted of three hundred bunnies from a single small house that was used as a place to “store” all the bunnies, without giving them any form of proper care and attention they need.

The next three days spent with the dogs were the most amazing days of my life. Many of the dogs seemed happy, but there were some that were timid or had lost trust in humans, especially men. There were a few dogs that are at Best Friends because their owners died, or their families were poor and couldn’t afford to keep them any longer. These were the happy stories, but the dogs I dealt with had horrible pasts.

It was such a memorable experience working with all the dogs, but there was one in particular that stands out in my mind, more so than others. The caretakers think Pogo is a terrier-pitbull mix, but there were no records to prove her breed, or combination of breeds. Although we were allowed to walk and handle and play with the dogs, the trainers told us not to let our faces get too close to the dog’s faces, even though these dogs proved they wouldn’t harm anyone. I’m still convinced they only had to say this because of legal matters if a dog ever nipped you by accident. I followed all the rules the best I could, because I didn’t want to get Pogo or myself in trouble, however, when we were on a walk sitting on a bench taking a break, I didn’t stop Pogo when she hopped up right next to me, licked my face, and laid her head down in my lap.

Her doing this gave me a feeling that to Pogo, I was doing something right. Here was this dog cuddled up right next to me, wanting the love and attention that she lost when she got separated from her owners in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. The next day, it was difficult to say goodbye to all the dogs, especially Pogo. I was praying that someone would see what an amazing dog she is, adopt her and give her a loving “forever home” that she deserves.

My time spent at Best Friends is something that I will never forget, and it’s always the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks me what I’m most proud of doing. I have always loved animals, but the ones at Best Friends who I made a connection with will always have a special place in my heart.

Photos courtesy of Cara Steinberg.