Greetings beloved viewers and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. On today’s program we continue our tour of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary at Angel Canyon in southern Utah, USA.

It is the nation’s largest sanctuary for homeless animals and was established by the non-profit organization Best Friends Animal Society which strives to bring about a better world through kindness to animals. At any given time the Sanctuary is home to up to 2,000 dogs, cats, birds and other animals who have unique physical, emotional, and behavioral needs.

They are brought to Utah from shelters from around the country for specialized care and attention with a focus on rehabilitation in order to re-home them. For those unable to find a new home, Best Friends allows them to stay at this perfect haven for life.

The sanctuary is 1,500 hectares in size and is surrounded by gorgeous national parks. The refuge is divided into several aptly named areas for the different animals that reside there like “Dogtown,” “Cat World,” “Bunny House,” “Horse Haven,” “Parrot Garden,” and “Piggy Paradise” to name but a few.

Today we have the privilege of calling on the charming residents of Bunny House, with rabbit care expert Burke Beesley as our host.

You want to have a big enough cage for them. Just a little rabbit hut, a little pen is just not enough room. They need to have room where they can run around a little bit and play.

One of the main things for the rabbit is to always have hay for them to eat. Their digestive system is a lot like a horse, where they have to eat all the time, they’re a grazer. And if they don’t have something like hay to eat all the time, then they can have problems.

So not just one specific feeding time, but food always.

Yes, we only feed them pellets in the morning. We have hay for them at all times. And in the afternoons, most times we have greens we give them. They really love those. You’re their best friend when you have the greens, you know. Like oh, dandelion greens they love and parsley, cilantro, all kinds of stuff.

Most rabbits don’t really like being picked up or held. But some of them will tolerate it. You see Puck, he’s trying to get away. He’s tired of being held. All right, I’ll put you down. There you go. You will be brushed.

Oh my Goodness! He’s shedding.

Yes he is.

Well it’s pretty hot. We have a lot more problems in the summer than the winters. Because if you think about it, a rabbit has a big heavy coat on. So they have problems in summer, heat exhaustion and things like that. So all our runs have misters in them. Mainly it wets the ground so they have like a cool place they can lay down on. It’s funny, some will stand right under the mister, and just get all soaking wet.

This is the exercise lawn. We rotate all the rabbits from down below in the buildings, give them a day up in the lawn to play, or we’ll open up one of the cages up here and let them play.

So what makes a rabbit a good pet?

Well they’re so cute! Rabbits can be litter box trained, easier than a cat they say. They get on with other animals. We have a caregiver who has a black Labrador Retriever; he gets along with her two rabbits. There are others that have cats that can get along. If you introduce them when they’re babies, they usually can grow up and be friends. So it’s neat!

That’s cool!

When a rabbit thumps, what does that mean?

That’s like a warning sign. They’re, not comfortable with what’s going on, you know. If we go into their cages a lot of them will thump at us. That’s just a warning sign.

What about having a rabbit as a companion inside a house or apartment? Will they still be healthy and happy?

They can live comfortably. Give them plenty of things to play with, things to chew on, they’re really curious. Rabbits are really curious so we give them all kinds of things to chew on, to hide in, toys to play with, they do play with toys. “The House Rabbits Society,” I think most of their members’ rabbits live in the house. It’s nice too though if you can have an outdoor park, put them out during the day, a nice lawn or something. A lot of people will do that. Put a little x-pen to keep them in.

When we return, we will complete our tour of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants, featuring a visit to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, USA.

The residents, who typically come from shelters or are brought in by rescue groups from across the country, often need only a few weeks of loving care before they are ready to be re-homed with a warm family. Cat World is our final stop where Tammy Yamada will introduce us to some lovable felines, including some very special ones needing extra attentive care.

So, do you find that there are people who want to take on special needs pets?

Yes! Oh, definitely. Like last year, we had three neurological cats. Now we just got new ones here yesterday. Her name is Griselda, she’s a little bit neurological. She walks wobbly; she has a hard time just to walk normally. And last year we had a severely neurological cat who couldn’t even walk, who couldn’t even sit up. We had to feed her three times a day. And it is such a commitment, but there are many people who fall in love because after all, they’re loving that cat, not their physicality, and all of them were adopted.

This is Mystery, she’s from Pahrump Rescue from Pahrump, Nevada (USA.) She doesn’t have any teeth, she doesn’t have any claws, she can’t hear and until about last year, for over like two years, she couldn’t let us be near her. She was really feisty, but then after everyday’s love and caring, she now loves us. Like, just like this guy, he didn’t like us at all for many, many years. And all of a sudden he goes, “Humans are not that bad.” And look at that! He just can’t get enough. Huh, Wolfie?

We next asked about the notable differences between dogs and cats in terms of how they relate to their human companions.

Well, I would say many people have dogs and people know about dogs too. And they kind of think that, “Okay, cats would be the same.” They would obey whatever you told them to do, you make the rule and they would follow.

Cats are not like that, although they can be trained of course, they can be trained to use a litter box which is very important. They soon learn when would be the feeding time and if they need to get medication, most of the cats would adapt. They would get used to it and they would take medication. Or like IV fluid, we have to do sometimes every day for certain cats, they get used to it, so they’ll be like, “Okay, just go ahead and get done with it.”

But most cats, I would say, you get along with them, and you don’t force what you’re trying to do, so you have to be very patient. You kind of sit down on the floor and let them know that you are safe, and non-threatening, and you’re here to love them, and they would slowly come to you.

The Sanctuary cares for over 700 cats and they live together in groups with indoor and outdoor areas for them to play about in. There are even small holes made especially for the felines to stay inside if they want privacy.

There are like different bedrooms here, is that correct? (Yes.) So there are certain cats in each bedroom or they are allowed to roam between the rooms?

This building has different rooms. So this room and the next room, is the FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) room. And Wolfie was actually in this room before. And other rooms are general rooms. And unless we see a cat that needs to be moved, they usually stay here and they’ll always live here until they get a forever home.

It is perfectly safe for humans to be around cats with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and the Best Friends Animal Society says that in most cases it is fine for these cats to be in the company of non-infected cats. Blood transfusions and serious, deep bite wounds are how the disease is transmitted. Unfortunately misunderstandings about the nature of the condition sometimes lead FIV positive cats to be abandoned by their caregivers and it is more challenging to place these cats in new homes.

So, the feline version of HIV. Basically their immune system is compromised, but otherwise, they are very, very healthy.

Is it communicable?

It’s very difficult to transfer too. It has to be a really, really deep wound and still they may not get it. And so, if the cats are mellow, like Wolfie… Wolfie is FIV positive, but because he is good, so he can live with FIV negative cats no problem.

We try to keep the numbers down in this room particularly, so they get less stress, and less chance of getting sick.

So all of them are very adoptable, every human for every cat, every cat for every human, I guess. You can’t really tell who needs who. And sometimes you need the cat and you just know like, “Hey, you’re my cat.”

For benevolently looking after gentle homeless animals, Supreme Master Ching Hai is honouring the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary with the Shining World Compassion Award and a US$20,000 contribution for the resident animals’ medical care.

Our gracious thanks to all the dedicated staff, including Burke Beesley and Tammy Yamada, at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for the lovely tour and taking such good care of animals in need. May you continue giving much needed love and support to all the beautiful residents.

For more details on the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, please visit

Thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, following Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. May you be blessed with everlasting joy in your life.