Wedding goes to the dogs

It isn’t a truly grand wedding unless it’s attended by lots of dogs, right? That may not be the conventional wisdom, but it sure worked for Mike and Beth Keenan, who just got married at Best Friends – and invited 11 Best Friends dogs to take part in the ceremony!

Mike and Beth live in Coatesville, Indiana. Profound animal lovers, they had planned to visit Best Friends anyway, so the idea occurred to them, "Why not just get married there?"

Wedding donations go to the sanctuary dogs

In fact, not only did they have their outdoor ceremony at Best Friends’ Angels Landing, but they asked for money for the animals in place of wedding gifts!

Said one of Beth’s coworkers, "As Beth's wedding approached, she laid out brochures from Best Friends and encouraged her officemates to take one. She made it very clear that we should donate money to Best Friends instead of buying her wedding gifts. She said the animals needed the money more. Every time someone donated, it would make Beth really happy! If an animal lover forgot to donate, Beth needled them until they did."

All in all, they brought the animals a wedding gift of more than $900!

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Dogs attend wedding

And of course, they invited some of the dogs to take part in their big event. What a fun outing! "It was funny," said Beth. "Wherever we went at Best Friends, everyone would say, ‘Hey, you’re the wedding couple.’ Apparently, there aren’t very many brides and grooms who want 11 dogs jumping and licking on them before the ceremony – but we didn’t care. Dresses and suits can be cleaned, but those animals need our love and attention."

A big thank-you from all the animals and folks. And many congratulations to a very caring couple.

Consider helping dogs in need today.