Best Friends Animal Society is a national animal welfare nonprofit based in Kanab, Utah, where it runs the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, home to up to 1,600 animals on a given day. The sanctuary is open to the public daily, but you can only see the animal areas on a booked tour. The group also runs adoption centers in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, New York City, Houston and Bentonville, Arkansas. Independent evaluators rate it well: Charity Navigator gives it four stars, and CharityWatch lists it as a Top-Rated Charity with a B+.
The sanctuary sits in Angel Canyon, about five miles north of Kanab off U.S. Highway 89. Best Friends lists its hours as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time every day except Christmas. You can walk the public areas, the Welcome Center, the store and the café, and hike the self-guided trails, where leashed dogs are welcome.
Tours. Walk-ins are not allowed in the animal care areas, so a guided tour is the only way to see Dogtown, Cat World, the Parrot Garden, Piggy Paradise or Horse Haven. Best Friends offers a Grand Tour of the whole property and shorter tours focused on specific animal areas. Tours are booked online through the sanctuary's booking calendar and tend to fill up, so book before you travel. Tours are sometimes canceled for weather. For same-day availability, ask at the Welcome Center.
Other activities. Guests in pet-friendly lodging can request a sleepover with an adoptable dog or cat, or take an approved resident dog on an outing. Lunch at Angel Village Café costs $5 per person.
Lodging. Best Friends rents cabins, cottages and RV sites on the sanctuary grounds, and runs the Best Friends Roadhouse and Mercantile in Kanab, a hotel built for guests traveling with pets. Prices are not posted on the lodging page, and the organization says spots fill well in advance.
Volunteer shifts are the closest hands-on contact most visitors get. They are booked through the Best Friends volunteer portal up to a year ahead, and each animal area caps how many people can join a shift. There are two shifts a day: 8:15 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 to 3:30 p.m. Mountain Time.
| Minimum age | Areas |
|---|---|
| 8+ | Cat World, Bunny House, Parrot Garden |
| 16+ | Dogtown and dog outings, Piggy Paradise, Horse Haven |
| 18+ | Wild Friends, Sanctuary Store, Angel's Rest, landscaping |
Volunteers under 18 must stay with an adult, and one adult can supervise two minors. Closed-toe shoes are required in all animal areas, and you need your own vehicle to get between them.
Best Friends lists six locations on its website. The adoption centers are separate from the sanctuary and have their own hours.
| Location | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kanab, Utah | Animal Sanctuary | Open daily; animal areas by tour |
| Salt Lake City, Utah (Sugar House) | Pet Adoption Center | Walk-ins welcome, open daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Los Angeles, California (West LA) | Pet Adoption Center | Check the LA page for hours |
| New York City (SoHo) | Pet Adoption Center | Check the NYC page for hours |
| Houston, Texas | Pet Lifesaving Center | By appointment only |
| Bentonville, Arkansas | Pet Resource Center | On-site adoptions |
At the Salt Lake City center, adoption fees are $100 for adult dogs and cats and $150 for puppies and kittens 6 months and under, which covers spay/neuter, vaccines, a microchip and a health check. Fees are waived for pets 7 and older, and veterans and active military get 20% off with ID. Fees at other centers may differ, so check each location's page. In Utah, Best Friends also leads the No-Kill Utah coalition.
In 2016 Best Friends set a goal of making every U.S. shelter no-kill by 2025. It defines no-kill as a shelter save rate of at least 90%. In a January 2026 essay, CEO Julie Castle wrote that the 2025 target date had passed without every shelter reaching that bar, and that the group would keep working toward it. The organization has not published a new national deadline.
Best Friends tracks progress on its public pet lifesaving dashboard, which covers nearly 4,000 shelters and lets you look up a state, county or individual shelter. Figures from its April 15, 2026 release on 2025 data:
Two caveats from Best Friends itself: the killed figure measures the gap to a 90% save rate in every shelter rather than every death, and data for up to roughly 20% of shelters is estimated from historical and community figures. As of April 2026 Best Friends counted Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont as no-kill states, and in May 2026 it added Idaho and Montana.
Independent ratings are positive, with some differences in how spending is counted.
What the filings show. On its Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, Best Friends reported $173.8 million in revenue and $175.7 million in expenses, with net assets of $137.4 million. CEO Julie Castle's reported compensation was $536,370. The organization's own 2025 annual report shows a larger total because it includes $105.5 million in in-kind donations such as pet food and litter. By that report, 85% of expenses went to programs, 11% to fundraising and 4% to management, down from 87% to programs in 2024. Best Friends says it allocates part of its joint fundraising and education costs to program services, which is the main reason its own figure is higher than CharityWatch's.
If program efficiency is your main test, compare these numbers with the groups on our best animal charities list.
Best Friends takes one-time gifts on its donate page and monthly gifts through its Guardian Angels program. It also accepts tribute and memorial gifts, stock and mutual funds, donor-advised fund grants, IRA qualified charitable distributions, bequests, cryptocurrency and vehicle donations. Workplace giving and corporate matching are handled through a separate page. Donations are tax-deductible (EIN 23-7147797); see our tax deduction guide for how to value a gift.
Without giving money, you can foster through any of the adoption centers, volunteer locally, or book a volunteer shift at the sanctuary. If you want to give food, beds or supplies, a nearby shelter is usually the better fit; our pet supply donation guide explains how to find one.