Pets in America

Best Friends: The True Story of the World's Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary is a very upbeat account of how the sanctuary and organization began and expanded. Best Friends is now a large nonprofit which accepts volunteers and gives tours. Their motto is "kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us."

The book begins in 1982 when a large group of friends decided to pool resources and buy a 3,000 acre property in Utah. The purchasing of the property is the subject of part 1. A multipart animal sanctuary with a "Dogtown" and a "Cat World" as well as a "Piggy Paradise" and a "Horse haven" is described. The second part focuses on one of the founders - Faith Maloney - and her role in Best Friends. The lengthiest and final section, describes the financial struggle and growing pains that made Best Friends the functional nonprofit that it now is.

The author, Samantha Glen, manages to describe the personalities that started the sanctuary, the difficulties with growth, and the tales of animals reaching happier states of being with a straightforward narrative.