Live from Kanab, it’s Best Friends Animal Sanctuary!
If your in-box looks anything like mine does right now, it’s bursting at the seams with messages and reminders from national leaders, corporations, nonprofit organizations, pop culture icons and even local restaurants encouraging us to rally around one another virtually while maintaining the required physical distance during this unprecedented time. On social media, I’ve seen offers for virtual concerts, meditation and art galleries, as well as Olympic athletes showing us all how to adapt to change and stay active and healthy by working out at home.
One of my personal favorites from this tidal wave of bright moments in dark times is this video of Anthony Hopkins at home playing the piano for his cat. It’s beautiful because it’s so representative of the simplicity and stability that pets bring to our lives. A reminder of the peaceful, steadfast nature of our relationship to animals when so much else seems uncertain.
That same peace, simplicity and stability are things I always see mentioned in letters and emails from people who visit the Sanctuary. They relish the hours and days filled with nothing but quality time spent with dogs, cats, pigs, parrots and other animals, as well as conversation with and connection to like-minded people. Facilitating that kind of experience between people and animals is at the heart of Best Friends.
And in that spirit, we’ve decided to bring Best Friends Animal Sanctuary directly to you.
Daily Facebook Live events at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
This week, we’re launching a regular weekday Facebook Live broadcast from different spots around the Sanctuary. Just because you can’t travel to see us right now doesn’t mean we can’t bring a little of that fuzzy or feathered joy to you.
These new “Live from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary” broadcasts will take place every weekday at 4 p.m. EST and will feature a different area of the Sanctuary each day.
Any home is a sanctuary when you have pets
Being compelled to stay in our homes for the greater good might feel overwhelming and restrictive, but it’s also an opportunity. It’s a chance to reset, get back to basics, focus on what truly makes us happy, and appreciate the simple things. For those of us with animals at home, it can be a chance to find peace and stability in that tiny sanctuary we’ve carved out for ourselves.
A better world through kindness to animals has always been Best Friends’ vision. And now feels like a great time to revisit and ponder that simple idea. In the early days of the no-kill movement, long before social media, people from all over the country routinely wrote to the founders of Best Friends and said things like this: “I thought I was the only person who feels this way about the animals. Now, I know I’m not.”
Connecting through shared values
Today, thanks largely to email, social media and the countless other ways we’re digitally connected to one another, it’s easy to find reminders of how many people out there feel the way we do. People who care about animals and advocate on their behalf make up one of the most socially cohesive communities in the world. Together, we transcend political, religious, economic and geographic differences to connect on a more meaningful level.
On that note, I hope you’ll join us every weekday at 4 p.m. EST as we broadcast a little love from our home sanctuary to yours. You’re invited to help us celebrate the resolute joy and vitality offered by the animals with whom we share our lives.
