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.
Boston Globe
11-02-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Animal shelters offer Valentine's Day sleepovers, sloppy kisses included
Her organization's no-kill animal shelters across the United States will provide pet food, beds, litter boxes, toys, and heart-shaped treats during their first Valentine's Day pet sleepover for homeless pets. 'Pets provide the purest form of love without any judgments,' she said. 'Hopefully, temporary will turn into permanent, and you'll find your own true love on Valentine's Day.' Advertisement Luke, a Best Friends Animal Society rescue cat, played with some Valentine's Day wrappings. Sarah Ause Kichas/Sarah Ause Kichas / Best Friends Makena Yarbrough, senior director of Best Friends' lifesaving centers, helped come up with the idea last year. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We'll send you home with a furry companion and all the supplies you'll need,' Yarbrough said, noting that Best Friends centers are open seven days a week. People in search of a perfect match can choose from about 465 cats and dogs at Best Friends shelters in Los Angeles, Houston, New York City, Bentonville, Ark., and Salt Lake City, and from hundreds more pets in Kanab, Utah, at the largest animal sanctuary in the United States. 'You can then bring the pet back or not bring them back,' Yarbrough said. 'It's an easy way for people to give fostering a try for a few days without a commitment.' Adoption fees will be waived for anyone who decides to keep their sleepover companion, she said. Michelle Logan, lifesaving programs senior director at Best Friends, said she's hopeful that the sleepover idea will be as successful as the Meet Your Soul Mutt speed-dating events the Bentonville center has sponsored. This month, Arkansans can speed-date with adoptable dogs on Feb. 13, then extend the love with a Valentine's Day sleepover, she said. 'We also have a 'doggy day out' program, where people who can't have pets can take a dog hiking or to the park, or just go sit outside a coffee shop,' Logan said, explaining that people can be with the animal for a few hours, a couple of nights, or forever. Advertisement Although the number of homeless pets is on the decline for the first time since 2020, about 6.3 million cats and dogs still enter shelters every year, according to the ASPCA. Castle said that when she first started working at Best Friends 28 years ago, more than 17 million animals were euthanized every year in US shelters. Now that number is down to about 415,000, she said. But it could be down to zero. 'Something powerful to think about is that roughly 7 million people are going to be acquiring a pet this year,' Castle said. 'If just 6 percent of that number shifted to rescuing a homeless pet, we would solve the issue of 415,000 animals dying.' Twix apparently favors candles and petals. Molly Wald A Valentine's Day sleepover with a dog or a cat won't entirely solve the problem, but it's a start, she said. 'If someone takes an animal home and then decides to foster that pet or go for adoption, that helps free up space in the shelter to save more lives,' Castle said. 'You'll also be providing a home environment that is incredibly important to that animal.' Chocolates and flowers are nice on Valentine's Day, she added, 'but we're encouraging people to bring love home this year and see how much joy they'll get out of it.'
