Best Friends Animal Society Announces the Passing of Beloved Co-Founder and Former CEO Gregory Castle
Visionary leader helped to pioneer the no-kill movement and dedicated his life to saving animals
Imagery:
https://bestfriends.widen.net/s/bfzwnwpk98/diorgregorycastle5074mw
KANAB, Utah, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- It is with profound sadness that Best Friends Animal Society announces the loss of co-founder and former CEO, Gregory Castle, who passed away suddenly on Saturday, May 17, 2025, from natural causes.
Gregory, along with 26 co-founders established Best Friends in 1984 when they broke ground for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, now the country's largest no-kill animal sanctuary and headquarters for the national animal welfare organization. As CEO from 2009 to 2018, he helped grow Best Friends into the leading national organization working to save dogs and cats in U.S. shelters and to make the entire country no-kill.
Best Friends board president and co-founder Francis Battista said:
'Gregory embodied the ethics of compassion and service. He devoted his entire adult life to helping animals and to making the world a better place. Losing Gregory is devastating, but his legacy of kindness and his commitment to the animals will live on through the work of Best Friends Animal Society.'
Born in Cranbrook, England, in 1942, Gregory graduated from Cambridge University with a master's in philosophy and psychology, and a passion for filmmaking. While at Cambridge he was a member of the venerable Cambridge Footlights, one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes that produced some of the biggest names in British film and theater.
He spent his childhood in Folkestone, England, a coastal access point during World War II that endured numerous bombings and air raids and served as a major landing spot for the Dunkirk evacuation. His father, Norman Castle, was a civil engineer for the British army who remained in Folkestone during the war while the rest of the town was evacuated. Gregory's mother was among those who relocated to safety and Gregory was subsequently born in a country house in Cranbrook. His father was later awarded with one of Britain's highest honors, an Order of the British Empire, for his heroic work in Folkestone during the war.
Gregory spent the last 41 years in Utah, serving in a variety of roles at Best Friends. In the early days of the Sanctuary, Gregory installed the original water lines and electricity across 3,000 acres of high desert land, guided only by a set of DIY books.
In 2000, along with his wife Julie, he started No More Homeless Pets in Utah, which evolved into No-Kill Utah (NKUT), a statewide coalition of animal welfare organizations, veterinarians and animal lovers collaborating to deliver low cost spay/neuter services, proactive shelter adoptions and public awareness campaigns to put Utah on the path to no-kill. The coalition became a model for cooperative efforts in the humane community throughout the country.
Gregory played the bagpipes, flew airplanes and was an avid runner who completed 17 marathons over a 20-year period, including three Boston Marathons. At 73 years of age, he became the oldest person at the time to ever have completed the grueling seven-day Grand to Grand Ultra, which takes runners across 170 miles of Utah's back country.
Gregory was 83 years old. He is survived by his wife Julie; his daughter Carragh Maloney; his granddaughter Zoe Glover, his brother Christopher Castle; sisters Jan Castle and Susan Duys, cats Ellie and Maggie, and dogs Sunny and Marley. His legacy will live on through a large and dedicated national community of animal lovers working to save the lives of homeless pets. He will be deeply missed.
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in America's shelters and making the entire country no-kill. Founded in 1984, Best Friends runs lifesaving facilities and programs nationwide in partnership with more than 5,000 shelters and rescue organizations. From our headquarters in Kanab, Utah, we also operate the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary — a destination that brings our mission to life for thousands of visitors each year. We maintain the most comprehensive animal sheltering data in the country and make it accessible to the public — empowering communities with critical insights into the needs of their local shelters and how they can help. We believe every dog and cat deserves a home. And we believe that, by working together, we can Save Them All®.
View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-friends-animal-society-announces-the-passing-of-beloved-co-founder-and-former-ceo-gregory-castle-302460021.html
SOURCE Best Friends Animal Society
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
A Royal Navy Nuclear Submarine Is Being Scrapped For The First Time
The former U.K. Royal Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Swiftsure has begun to be cut up as part of its scrapping process. Remarkably, this is the first British nuclear-powered submarine of any kind to be fully dismantled and decommissioned. This means that all the rest of the Royal Navy's out-of-commission nuclear-powered subs are currently sitting in docks awaiting disposal, a process that is only now starting to happen, after years of stasis. Babcock International Group, a British aerospace, defense, and nuclear engineering services company, recently announced that the first major cut had been made on the exterior of Swiftsure. This involved the removal of the submarine's fin (or sail), after which it was lowered to the bottom of the dry dock, a process seen in the photo at the top of this story. HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of a class of nuclear fleet submarines built for the Royal Navy. Entering service in 1973, the submarine served until 1992. A highly notable episode in its service came in 1977, when Swiftsure penetrated undetected through layered escort screens of destroyers and frigates and approached the Soviet Navy aircraft carrier Kiev. The submarine recorded extremely valuable acoustic signatures and took detailed underwater periscope pictures of the Soviet carrier's hull and propellers, something you can read about in more detail here. Swiftsure is being disposed of at Rosyth in Scotland, under the Submarine Dismantling Project (SDP). The submarine is serving as a demonstrator for the broader SDP, which will eventually dispose of the Royal Navy's other out-of-commission nuclear subs, which include both attack submarine (SSN) and ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) classes. The work on Swiftsure is being carried out by Babcock in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense's Defense Nuclear Enterprise, contractor KDC Veolia Decommissioning Services UK Ltd, and Rolls-Royce. Up to 90 percent of Swiftsure (by total weight) is being recycled, with at least some of the high-grade steel being repurposed into components for future Royal Navy submarines. 'The project showcases our commitment to sustainable disposal practices,' explained Lorraine Russell, Senior Responsible Owner for the Submarine Disposals Program. 'By recycling materials wherever possible, we're ensuring these vessels that served the nation so well continue to provide value even after decommissioning.' The plan calls for Swiftsure to be fully dismantled by the end of 2026, making it the first U.K. nuclear-powered submarine to be fully disposed of. After the process has been proven out, Babcock will then lead work on the long-term dismantling of the backlog of other nuclear-powered subs, which are laid up in Rosyth and in Devonport, in southwest England. According to Navy Lookout, a website providing independent Royal Navy news and analysis, there are currently 16 decommissioned nuclear-powered subs in Devonport and seven more in Rosyth (including Swiftsure). The other boats in Rosyth include HMS Dreadnought, which was the U.K.'s first nuclear-powered submarine, commissioned into service in 1963 and finally withdrawn in 1980. This means the boat has been in storage longer than it was in service. At Devonport, notably, the naval base has a regular capacity for a maximum of 14 submarines. This means that special permission had to be granted to add another two subs (HMS Talent and Triumph, which arrived in 2023 and 2024). This provides further evidence of the urgency in starting the long-term disposal of these boats. Of the boats in Devonport, 12 still have their nuclear fuel on board. The submarines are stored afloat in a non-tidal basin. Every 15 years, each boat goes into dry dock for an inspection and preservation work, where necessary. At Rosyth, there is even less available space, especially bearing in mind the need for the base to accommodate the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers when they go into dry dock. That the United Kingdom has such a big backlog of nuclear-powered subs awaiting disposal reflects the fact that so many of these boats were withdrawn from service relatively rapidly with the end of the Cold War. During these times of tension, the priority was to build up underwater capabilities, with less thought given to what would be done with the nuclear-powered submarines once they were no longer needed. At one point, it was even suggested that the boats should be filled with ballast and sunk in deep water, but such at-sea disposal of nuclear material was banned in 1983. Not only does the long-term storage of nuclear-powered submarines present very serious safety and security challenges, but keeping storing and maintaining the boats is also a considerable economic investment. This is in stark contrast to the United States. The U.S. Navy has always had a bigger fleet of nuclear-powered submarines than the Royal Navy and its construction program is coupled with a decommissioning effort to deal with the boats once they are removed from service. The U.S. Department of Defense explains the decommissioning process — specifically at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Washington — as follows: Currently, the shipyard receives a steady flow of decommissioned Los Angeles class attack submarines that are brought in for the recycling process, which can take up to two years to complete. Dismantling starts along the pier, where the subs remain afloat. Ladders used by sailors are removed, stairs are added to give workers easier access, and holes are punched into the sub's hull so cranes can be lowered to pull out scrap metal. The crews bring in their own electrical power and ventilation piping because the vessels are no longer functional. The forward and aft ends of each submarine are then separated from the already defueled reactor compartment, which is then closed at each end with massive steel encasements. PSNS & IMF is the only naval shipyard that can make robust steel encasements large enough and with the safety requirements needed to hold the empty reactor cores. The giant cases are pieced together by expert welders using submerged-arc welding, technology not used anywhere else in the Navy. Part of the recycling team's work includes filling large bins with items such as insulation, circuit boards, electrical components, cabling, and other debris that is sent to different waste streams. The contents of the bins are sent to contractors who will either melt down the scraps, reuse them, sell them, or send them out for environmentally safe disposal. As parts are removed, the subs slowly rise out of the water. Visitors on the pier can see water lines on the subs from where they initially sat when they were at their operational weight. Once in dry dock, it takes another 10 months to break down a sub to where all that's left is the empty reactor compartment. The dry dock is where that heavy recycling process takes place. Parts of the ship that are too big to remove along the pier, such as the diesel generator, are removed during this phase. Large chunks of the submarine's main structure are also ripped apart and deposited onto barges at the pier for disposal as scrap metal. The shipyard itself also reuses some of the material. The defueled nuclear reactor compartment is all that is left. They are placed in robust shipping packages consistent with federal and state regulations and shipped to the Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Hanford, Washington. The packages make the 700-mile journey by barge from the shipyard in Bremerton down the Washington coast and up the Columbia River before being transported on a multi-wheeled transporter to the site for safe, permanent disposal. As of March 2025, more than 140 reactor compartment disposal packages had been transported by PSNS & IMF to the Hanford Site since 1986, reflecting the huge scale of the decommissioning effort. It's only more recently that the United Kingdom started a similar kind of disposal project for its unwanted nuclear subs. While Swiftsure will be the first Royal Navy submarine to be fully dismantled and decommissioned, Babcock is now also under contract to prepare for the nuclear defueling of four Trafalgar class SSNs. Nuclear defueling has been done before in the United Kingdom — all seven of the boats at Rosyth have had their fuel removed, and of the 16 boats at Devonport, four are also without fuel. However, the work on the four Trafalgar class SSNs will be the first nuclear defueling of a decommissioned Royal Navy submarine in over 20 years. According to Navy Lookout, until 2003, nuclear subs had their fuel removed soon after decommissioning, but this process was abandoned after it was determined that the facilities for doing this work were no longer safe enough. As an interim measure, these submarines had their primary circuit chemically treated to ensure it remains inert and were fitted with additional radiation-monitoring equipment. 'This meant fully fueled boats have been stored afloat for the last two decades while a solution was developed at a glacial pace,' Navy Lookout reported yesterday. 'The submarines that have not had fuel removed have their reactor primary circuit chemically treated to guarantee it remains inert, and additional radiation monitoring equipment is fitted.' To make the defueling process safer, the previous cranes used to remove the fuel have been replaced with a so-called Reactor Access House. Moving on rails, this is an enclosure that is positioned over the submarine in a dry dock, after which the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is hoisted into it. The largest and most radioactive element of the submarine, the RPV is then transported to the Sellafield nuclear site for above-ground storage. Longer-term, it's expected that the RPVs will be buried underground, but this plan has yet to be finalized. Here again, there are differences with the U.S. approach, as Alex Luck, an analyst who closely follows submarine developments, told TWZ: '[Decommissioned U.S. Navy submarines] get defuelled, and the remaining material goes to Idaho for processing and then storage. The reactors and all associated elements are cut up and put into special waste storage sites. Unlike the United Kingdom, the United States simply disposes of a lot of material by burying it. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, is reprocessing and recycling as much as possible due to their far more limited capacity/tighter regulations for 'buried,' i.e., long-term stored waste.' Regardless, once the RPVs are removed, the submarines can start to be fully broken down, as is now happening with Swiftsure at Rosyth. While there was already some urgency to develop a plan to finally dispose of decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines, the problem is only set to grow in the years to come. The four Vanguard class SSBNs that entered service in the 1990s and currently comprise the United Kingdom's permanent at-sea deterrent are scheduled to be taken out of service between 2031 and 2040. These will be replaced by a similar number of new Dreadnought class SSBNs. The four Dreadnought boats represent one of the most important U.K. defense programs in many years, and you can read more about their design here. Beyond that, starting in the late 2030s, the United Kingdom will have to dispose of seven Astute class SSNs. These will be replaced by an increased fleet of up to 12 SSNs, to be developed under the SSN-AUKUS in collaboration with Australia and the United States, in a plan that was outlined in the Strategic Defense Review earlier this week. Despite these plans for expansion, the Royal Navy's submarine fleet will remain a shadow of its numerical strength back in its Cold War heyday. For many years, the growing backlog of retired nuclear-powered submarines stood testament to that period of naval power. Now, with the milestone cutting of the exterior of Swiftsure, this increasingly problematic and costly legacy is starting to be dealt with. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Veterans remain central to D-Day anniversary ceremonies
The Brief D-Day marks the day allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in military history. June 6 marks the anniversary of D-Day, the day allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy and changed the course of World War II. The invasion was unprecedented in scale and audacity and implemented the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to punch a hole in Adolf Hitler's defenses in Western Europe. Today, though the D-Day generation of veterans are smaller, they remain a crucial reminder of what June 6 means as they continue to spread the message that they fought so hard for 81 years ago: Freedom is worth defending. About 66,143 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II were alive as of 2024, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dig deeper At the Normandy American Cemetery that overlooks Omaha, the resting place for nearly 9,400 American war dead, workers and visitors rubbed sand from the beach onto the white gravestones, so the engraved names stand out. Wally King, a sprightly 101-year-old, shared a few words at the grave of Henry Shurlds Jr. Shurlds who flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighters like King and was shot down and killed on Aug. 19, 1944. What they're saying When "most veterans from World War II came home, they didn't want to talk about the war. So they didn't pass those experiences on to their children and grandchildren," King said. "In a way, that's good because there's enough unpleasantness, bloodshed, agony in war, and perhaps we don't need to emphasize it," he added. "But the sacrifice needs to be emphasized and celebrated." Jack Stowe, a 98-year-old who served in the Navy, shared that he still receives "the sweetest letters" from kids he has met on previous trips. "The French people here, they're so good to us … they want to talk to us, they want to sit down and they want their kids around us," he said. Jake Larson, 102, survived machine gunfire while storming Omaha beach on D-Day. "We are the lucky ones … They had no family. We are their family. We have the responsibility to honor these guys who gave us a chance to be alive," Larson said. What does "D" stand for in D-Day? It depends on who you ask. The backstory Some say it stands for designated day, decision day, doomsday or even death day, according to the U.S. military. Others also said it merely stands for "Day," as in Day-Day. There have been other instances in history which utilized D-Day as a coded designation for the day of any important invasion or military operation, the U.S. military said. Referencing Stephen Ambrose's book, "D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II," the U.S. Army's first use of D-Day was in 1918. "For military planners (and later historians), the days before and after a D-Day were indicated using plus and minus signs: D-4 meant four days before a D-Day, while D+7 meant seven days after a D-Day," according to the U.S. Army website. An unknown person allegedly wrote to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allied supreme commander for Operation Overlord, and asked what the "D" meant. His executive assistant at the time, Brigadier Gen. Robert Schultz answered: "General Eisenhower asked me to respond to your letter. Be advised that any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used," the Army's website reads. The sea landings started at 6:30 a.m., just after dawn, targeting five code-named beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword. The operation also included actions inland, including overnight parachute landings on strategic German sites and U.S. Army Rangers scaling cliffs to take out German gun positions. By the numbers Around 11,000 Allied aircraft, 7,000 ships and boats, and thousands of other vehicles were involved. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself, including 2,501 Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians. The exact German casualties aren't known, but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. About 22,000 German soldiers are among the many buried around Normandy. The Source Information for this article was taken from previous reporting by The Associated Press, FOX News and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'I felt for those soldiers': Veteran, 100, recalls D-Day 81 years later
The numbers are staggering: 160,000 Allied troops. Five thousand ships and 13,000 aircraft. All to take a heavily fortified 50-mile stretch of French shoreline, a herculean effort to reclaim a critical part of Europe from the Nazis and turn the tide of the most horrific war the world had ever seen. On June 6, 1944 − D-Day − World War II's invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, got underway. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, told the men as they mobilized for battle: "The eyes of the world are upon you. ... The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." Tolley Fletcher, at the time a 19-year-old Navy gunner's mate, remembered the rough seas and the treacherous landing troops at Utah Beach had to make in 3- to 4-foot waves, each carrying about 60 pounds of gear on their backs and descending on rope ladders from larger ships onto smaller landing crafts. "I felt for those soldiers," Fletcher, now 100 years old, told USA TODAY. "In my mind, that was the worst part, other than people getting hurt." Fletcher, who joined the Navy at 17 in late December 1941, said he and his shipmates were fortunate to be mostly out of the line of fire. "There was some shelling, not really a lot, and luckily we didn't get hit. "Maybe halfway in, we started seeing lots of bodies in the water," said Fletcher, who now lives in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area. "I was asked (later) what we did about it. We didn't do anything about it − we had a job: to escort those troops to the beach." On D-Day, "that's what these guys faced," said Peter Donovan Crean Sr., vice president for education and access at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "They knew they were in the presence of history. Soldiers, sailors, Marines − they knew what they were doing was going to go down in history, which also meant they knew the danger involved. "Guys who were 18, 19, 20 years old were faced with the possibility of their death, but they did it anyway." As we mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day, here is a look at what happened on the beaches of Normandy, the men who fought knowing they might not survive to see victory and the way it affected the Allies' fight to defeat fascism, genocide and tyranny. In order to defeat the Nazis in Europe, the Allies knew they'd have to take France, under German occupation since 1940. Operation Overlord saw a mobilization of 2,876,000 Allied troops in Southern England, as well as hundreds of ships and airplanes, in preparation for a ground invasion, the largest the world had seen. Weighing conditions including the weather, disagreements among other military leaders and strategic uncertainty, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for the operation to begin before dawn on June 5, 1944. If things didn't go well for the Allies, Eisenhower wrote a note accepting responsibility. The following day, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along the 50-mile stretch of French shoreline. More than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded, and 100,000 troops would continue the slow, bloody journey to Berlin, the center of German power. According to the U.S. Army, D-Day was "simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour." Some believe the first "D" also stands for "day," a code designation, while the French say the "D" stands for "disembarkation." The Army's website says that "the more poetic insist D-Day is short for 'day of decision.'" Asked in 1964, Eisenhower instructed his assistant Brig. Gen. Robert Schultz, to answer. Schultz wrote that "any amphibious operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is used.' D-Day was not the only decisive battle of the European theater, Crean said. "It was a crucial battle but there were more ahead," he said. "They had 700 miles of tough road ahead to get to Berlin." The Battle of the Bulge, waged over 41 days in December 1944 and January 1945, required 700,000 Allied troops. "It was a tough slog for another 11 months," Crean said. Victory in Europe − V-E Day − would come on May 8, 1945, nearly a year after D-Day. The war wouldn't end until the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945. There are about 66,000 surviving World War II veterans in the United States, Crean said, and while that may sound like a lot, it's a tiny fraction of the 16.4 million who served their country in the conflict. "So to be able to talk to and thank one veteran now is a gift for any of us," Crean said. The National World War II Museum's mission "is more critical than ever ... so more people will understand what they did and continue to be inspired by their sacrifices," added Crean, a retired colonel with 30 years' service in the Army. The museum has had oral historians travel the country to record more than 12,000 personal stories from World War II veterans. They've conducted extensive interviews with veterans, Holocaust survivors and homefront workers and, using artificial intelligence, created a way for visitors to have "conversations" with them and ask questions to learn about the war effort. And they offer virtual programming, teacher training and a student leadership award. Fletcher, the Navy gunner's mate, said he's uncomfortable with the idea of being considered a hero. Asked about his role in history, he said, "I really didn't think about it then, and I don't think about it now, though it's been impressed upon me quite a bit. "When I think about what I went through, and what all the Army and the other men who were mixed up in really tough situations, it makes me feel a little bit guilty." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Remembering D-Day: Veteran, 100, offers first-hand account of D-Day
