Latest news with #BestFriends
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Co-founder and former CEO of Best Friends Animal Society passes away
KANAB, Utah () — One of the co-founders of Best Friends Animal Society, headquartered and founded in Kanab, Utah, passed away last weekend. He is remembered for his compassion for animals and diligent work while building up the sanctuary. Gregory Castle was one of 26 co-founders and the former CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. The sanctuary was established in Kanab, Utah, in 1984. He passed away on Saturday, May 17, 2025, from natural causes at the age of 83. According to Best Friends' website, 'In 1984, group of friends with about 200 rescued dogs and cats, a few bunnies and birds, and a couple of burros landed in a remote canyon in Utah's high desert and took the first steps on the path of what would become the nationwide no-kill movement for homeless pets.' 'Bone' Appétit: Here are the Salt Lake County restaurants with dog-friendly patios in 2025 Castle was one of these friends and worked diligently to turn the remote area of Angel Canyon in Kanab into a sanctuary for animals of all kinds. According to Best Friends, Castle installed the original water lines and electricity at the sanctuary — which spans more than 3000 acres — using only DIY books. '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,' Francis Battista, Best Friends board president and another co-founder, is quoted in a release. While he spent the last 41 years of his life in Utah, Castle was actually born and raised in England. His father was a civil engineer for the British army during World War II. Castle graduated from Cambridge University in 1942 with degrees in philosophy and psychology. 'Shy, but inquisitive': Hogle Zoo welcomes new sand cat named 'Cleo' His wife founded No More Homeless Pets Utah with Castle in 2000. This eventually turned into the nonprofit No-Kill Utah. Best Friends describes it as 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.' 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. Best Friends Animal Society on the passing of Gregory Castle Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Herald Scotland
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Charming new romance depicts a love story like no other
Muswell Press, £12.99 Rarely is romance depicted quite as Andrew Meehan does it here. "Why does a kiss in the rain always signal the end of a story?" he asks, positioning that climactic moment roughly at the midway point of this slim novel, where it marks just another milestone in a relationship rather than a cue for the end credits to roll. The fact that his couple decide they're pretty much done with kissing after that is an even bigger snub to the conventional love story. Ray Draper and June Wylie are 70 and 74 respectively, and although they've both been living for many years in the Dublin suburb of Glasthule (a location Best Friends shares with Jamie O'Neill's 2001 novel At Swim, Two Boys), they've never met. June cleans the grand houses of well-off families. She's been married three times, though only her second husband, who died young, seems to be remembered fondly. She lives in a little house with beehives in the garden and a rosebush that will never flower again. Ray has tended to bounce from one thing to another. Read more: Novel plunged me into 1920s Glasgow - and what I found there might surprise you This Scots author knows the power of a shocking twist and he's not afraid to use it A failed architect, he was a tree surgeon for 30 years until the realisation hit him that tree surgeons don't actually love trees, they love cutting them up. He spent a year in a monastery long ago, something even he seems to find hard to believe now. Unlike June, he's sexually inexperienced and has never known a woman's love. A chance meeting in a grocer's, where Ray impulsively decides to buy every jar of June's honey when he learns they're going to stop stocking it, leads to a courtship. What follows is a touching little gem of a story, a romance distinguished by a kind of hard-nosed tenderness, in which two OAPs who are both set in their ways learn how to accommodate each other in their lives, going through a process of negotiation and compromise on their way to coming to terms with the notion that "the end of being alone is not the end of who you are". It also, importantly, I think, reminds its readers what counts as a pensioner nowadays: June used to fancy herself as a ringer for Chrissie Hynde and Ray bears a passing resemblance to Willie Nelson. So not quite like your gran and grandad. Best Friends by Andrew Meehan (Image: Supplied) The thrice-married June is the warier and more emotionally pragmatic of the two: more fixed about what she's willing to compromise on and more alert to the signs that they might not be compatible. Ray is sweet and eager to please but clumsy at romancing, and their edges rub against one another as they try to work out what each other wants from their relationship. Ray, with his "lingering air of old spaniel", isn't it. Or so June convinces herself for a while. But for all the caution and uncertainty of taking on a relationship that's likely to be their last roll of the dice, this is still a romance. Meehan, from Dublin but currently teaching Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, brings to the page the quiet excitement of falling in love, the way that ordinary moments and mundane objects are imbued with magic and significance. It's no less romantic for their decision to think of each other as best friends rather than lovers and leave the physical stuff out of it, when you see the companionship and intimacy June and Ray provide for each other. Short enough that you won't want it to end, Best Friends is a love story that's charmingly and wittily told, shot through with tenderness and poignancy.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Amanda Bynes unveils brand new tattoo and shock hair transformation after joining OnlyFans
Amanda Bynes has excitedly unveiled a brand new tattoo and hair transformation just weeks after joining OnlyFans. The 39-year-old former child star, who famously has a love heart tattoo on her face, rushed to social media to share that she and a longtime pal got matching permanent ink to celebrate their friendship. 'My best friend Dylan and I have been best friends for 10 years,' Amanda said in a recent TikTok video. 'And to mark our best friend anniversary, we got matching Roman numeral "Xs" for the number 10.' Revealing her new inking, she continued: 'I got it on my finger. Dylan got it on her rib cage.' Amanda also was excited to show off her hair transformation. 'I finally grew my bangs out,' she enthused. 'I'm so excited right now. Oh my god, I can't believe it.' Last month, Amanda surprised her fans by announcing that she had launched her very own OnlyFans page. The 39-year-old actress showed off a brand new 'X' inking on her finger as well as her new hair in a video shared on TikTok Although OnlyFans is typically used as a platform for X-rated content, Amanda insisted that she will not be 'posting any sleazy content' on her profile and instead stated she will use the page to communicate with her fans. 'I'm doing OnlyFans to chat with my fans through DMs. I won't be posting any sleazy content. Excited to join,' she wrote. Fans will have to fork over $50 per month if they wish to have access to Amanda's OnlyFans. Since ditching Hollywood in 2010, Amanda has set her sights on a career in fashion and art. Amid concerns about her mental health and substance abuse, she was placed under a legal conservatorship by her parents for nine years back in 2013. During that time, the troubled star first pursued fashion and art while attending the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She graduated with an Associate's of Art degree in 2014. In 2022, Bynes' conservatorship was terminated and she has reportedly remained clean and sober. She's also has been slowly getting her new career plans off the ground ever since. In December 2024, Amanda hosted a pop-up art show that was attended by various celebrities including Miley Cyrus' younger sister, Noah Cyrus. Around that time, an insider close to the former child star revealed to that pursuing a career in art is a 'tremendous step forward' for Amanda. 'She will be going through her mental health struggles for the rest of her life but to be out and about and share with friends and fans and to be around her latest love, her art was exactly what she needed,' they said. In 2015, Amanda told Paper Magazine that she had 'definitely abused Adderall,' a popular drug to treat ADHD, in hopes of using its stimulant and appetite suppression effects to help her maintain a desired weight.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
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: 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: SOURCE Best Friends Animal Society
Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
News in pictures
Gardeners at Levens Hall, five miles south of Kendal in Cumbria, make sure everything is trim and tidy for World Topiary Day on Sunday TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP The Qatar National Museum in the capital Doha, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, is modelled after the desert rose, a naturally occurring mineral formation found in the region. Inside, immersive exhibits explore Qatar's natural history, Bedouin culture and its transformation into a global nation NESE ARI/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES Mirage, a 12-year-old tabby cat, at the Best Friends Animal Society's sanctuary, in Kanab, Utah. Mirage survived a 380-foot fall that killed its owners, Matthew Nannen, 45, and Bailee Crane, 58, whose bodies were found on April 29 at Bryce Canyon National Park SWNS This year marks the next chapter in the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust's legacy with the opening of a visitor centre with exhibition and shops on the second floor of Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh's Port of Leith. Queen Elizabeth II's former royal yacht attracts 350,000 annual visitors THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA TRUST HAMIT YALCIN/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES AMANDA PEROBELLI/REUTERS A design by Ellie Anderson, a performance costume student, at a showcase of sci-fi and fantasy-themed stage costume designs at Edinburgh College of Art JANE BARLOW/PA A Venezuelan boy plays with a roller skate and his pet at La Pista migrant camp in La Guajira in northern Colombia. More than 9,000 migrants and indigenous people living in the camp in a former airport have lost all support from US-funded NGOs LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES A vendor displays socks bearing caricatures of the ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad at his souvenir shop in a Damascus market. Images of the once-feared Assad family have gone from being ubiquitous symbols of repression to objects of derision since the 59-year-old president was ousted in December by an Islamist-led rebel offensive, ending the family's 53-year rule LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
