Whiskers

(Grover & Nero)

My internship at Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary officially wrapped up last week however I'm still here for one more week and then head home to Vegas on Saturday with hopefully some big news to share.

However I still have loads of pictures from my last two weeks as an intern, my second to last week was spent in Benton's which is a house for special needs and social cats.

(TJ)

While I'm mostly a dog and horse person, I do have a fondness for cats thanks to the everlasting impression my first cat Siamese (I named her when I was 4) had on me growing up. She loved me, let me put her in baskets, would knead on me when she felt safe, and always slept with me. Sinatra, the cat I have now, is the complete opposite of her but I love him just the same. So I do have quite the soft spot for long whiskers.

(Bob)

In Benton's I met TJ who was completely blind but got around just fine, Slidell who is completely paralyzed in her back legs but can still climb cat towers and doesn't let her backend slow her down. There was Aaron, the champion door dasher who has Manx related issues and Blackjack who loves to go on walks on a leash. 

(Nero)

Inspirational cats.

Jellicle cats.

All these cats are looking for forever homes,

find more info here.

Enjoy these fabulous felines.

 (Tara)

(Hannah)

(Charisma)

(Patti)

(Edward)

(Hobo)

The little cat above is also part of the 12 Cats of Christmas promo which you can find out more about here.

Hooves & Snouts

I'm wrapping up Internship week 2 and 3 in Horse Haven and Piggy Paradise (they are combined areas) and got the chance to give the pigs and horses their own photoshoots. The staff here are unbelievably awesome and have even been posting my work on each area's respective Facebook page! You can see my photos for the pigs here and the horses here.

I've always loved horses as most of you know, I have been riding for almost as long as I could walk. However, I have a new found respect for pigs. I've always liked pigs and have never been a huge pork eater but spending time with them on the day to day made me realize just how smart and social they are. The horses and pigs here are trained in Parelli Natural Horsemanship which focuses on positive training methods and building a positive bond between horse and rider and the pigs learn this way as well. It's something I haven't really gotten a chance to experience yet but I'm hoping to learn more about it before this week is over. 

I encourage everyone to do a little more research when it comes to pigs. There is no such thing as a teacup piggy, these small pigs are starved to keep them small and are even explained in their contracts to underfeed the animals to keep them small and these poor pigs experience many health issues because of it. Pigs also turn vicious when kept in homes if they don't have another pig friend which is why Best Friend's adopts them out in pairs. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, I've tried and failed many times, but I have so much respect for people who are and I have definitely cut down my carnivorous ways since I've been here.

If you get a chance to volunteer at the Sanctuary, make sure you spend some time with the pigs and horses. It's a really great time feeding the horses and giving pigs belly rubs. 

If you want to know more about the pigs at Best Friends, one of the other interns is running a blog specifically about them called Friends With Pigs! She also makes the cutest pig cozies as well as other animal cozies so be sure to check her out!

Dogtown

(Bruno)

So I'm currently writing this from cloudy Kanab UT where I've wrapped up my first week of my internship at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I spent my first week in Dogtown, learning how to be a dog caregiver and what goes into training and rehabilitating the dogs in my specific section. I have yet to meet someone here that I don't like and I even ran my section, The Gardens, by myself the last morning because of a mix-up which I think happened for a reason so I could perhaps prove to myself and staff that I'm meant to do this. 

(Sinatra)

The dogs here are incredible. There's Bruno, the large gray and white Pit Bull Terrier who is incredibly smart and stubborn and instantly became one of my favorites. There's Sinatra, the Australian Shepherd with beautiful blue eyes (hence the name) whose extremely shy and avoids being petted. He has to be hand fed to help him bond with humans and prove we aren't so bad and he will come up to you and snuffle your hair if he's curious and comfortable enough. Beautiful Pearl, another Pittie, who suffers from Babesia which is a blood disease she contracted from a fighting ring in Texas but is the sweetest little gremlin I've ever met. Then there is Nita, a bouncy and lovable American Bulldog mix who thinks she's part cat. I wish I could take them all home with me.

(Pearl)

I loved every minute of being with the dogs and I'm pretty sad that I can't spend my entire internship there. However the good news is that this week will be spent in horses, my other favorite area, and I also summoned my courage and put in an application to be a Dogtown caregiver. Fingers crossed.

(Nita)

All the dogs seen here are currently for adoption. 

You can find more info/adopt here: Best Friends Adopt a Pet-Animal Sanctuary