A YEAR OF BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY

In every issue next year, we will feature a special section dedicated to Best Friends Animal Society. Here you will find information about Best Friends’ programs, their community outreach, updates on their No-Kill Nation goal and more. And just so that you understand what the term “no-kill” means, according to Best Friends Animal Society: For a shelter to achieve what is considered no-kill, 90% of the cats and dogs coming into the shelter must be saved. Typically, no more than 10% of dogs and cats entering shelters are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed, so that’s how Best Friends Animal Society arrived at the 90% benchmark.

Best Friends Animal Society has six lifesaving centers in various markets across the country, including the legendary Best Friends Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Throughout 2025, we will talk about each of the Lifesaving Centers as well as the many programs and benefits the Sanctuary provides the animal rescue and advocacy communities. You will also learn about various local animal welfare organizations that Best Friends works with as part of the Best Friends Network to achieve this success. As Best Friends’ website so eloquently states it, “While the Sanctuary remains the heart and soul of Best Friends, we now have lifesaving centers and programs in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, Northwest Arkansas and other areas. In addition, through our national network of partners, lifesaving tactics are being implemented in shelters and rescue groups across the country.”

The Best Friends Network is comprised of more than 5,000 shelters, rescue groups, and support organizations, all working to achieve the No-Kill Nation goal. And while animal advocacy and rescue networks are not new, the Best Friends Network has literally redefined what this kind of endeavor can achieve. From offering shared resources to helping increase exposure for adoptables to new audiences and everything in between, the Best Friends Network has become the global gold standard in animal welfare consortia.

In animal advocacy and rescue, it is the day-to-day staff and volunteers that do the heavy lifting and dedicate so much to saving our furrever ones. In each issue, we will also profile Best Friends Animal Society staff and volunteers. Learn about why and how they got involved in rescue, how they ended up working with Best Friends and what they’re doing to make a difference in the lives of our furrever ones.

In each issue, we will also focus on how you can help Best Friends Animal Society achieve the landmark goal that Julie Castle set in 2016. From volunteering to fostering to adopting and donating, there are countless ways you can help make a difference in the lives of a furrever one.

Lastly, we will talk about the many partners involved in Best Friends Animal Society’s programming. From movie studios to consumer brands to publishers, Best Friends leverages their relationships with some of the biggest and best companies in the country to help achieve their goals. By partnering with a movie studio, as they have done many times, Best Friends is able to effectively message to a film’s audience the need for adoption, fostering, volunteering and donating. That translates into millions of more Americans seeing the need for these beautiful animals to be helped.

And just so we are being 100% transparent - Pet Lifestyles Magazine is not paid by Best Friends Animal Society to fill 2025’s editions with their messaging, programs and information. We are doing this because it is our duty to help the community. It is part of our DNA. Best Friends Animal Society are our packmates. And they are the best chance we have to, as Best Friends always puts it so pawfectly, “Save Them All.”