Best Friends Sanctuary Inc. humane organization dedicated to helping the animals in the city of Jamestown and Fentress County, Tennessee

Best Friends Sanctuary (Community Pet Advocates) is a 501 C3 (not for profit) organization dedicated to helping to reduce the unwanted animal population in Fentress County. Our mission is to assist in placing abandoned, unwanted, or abused animals in loving, responsible homes, promote spaying or neutering of the dogs and cats and to provide humane education. There is no shelter or county run dog pound in Fentress County thus there is a great need for this service. Our rescue program is designed to help cats and dogs who are homeless find permanent homes. Most of the animals have been abandoned in rural areas. They are not considered adoptable until they have been spayed or neutered, and have their immunization shots brought up to date. We always have puppies, dogs, kittens, and cats available for adoption. Our adoption fees are less than our costs.

Since April 2006, we have been working with a no kill shelter out of state. As of January 2011, we have transported 3564 dogs and puppies to the SPCA organization. They have placed all that we sent in loving, indoor homes. This has been a blessing. Without this outlet, these animals would have been put down, hit by cars, or roaming the streets as there are not enough homes in Fentress County to support the unwanted pet population. It costs a minimum for shots, worming, flea medication, etc. of $20 per animal taken to Ohio plus the cost of gasoline and maintenance to our van. We have no financial support from the city or county.

We do provide a low cost spay / neuter programs for low income households. An application must be filled out and returned to our spay/neuter coordinator. This is available when we have grant money available for this purpose. Please stop and pick up an application at Dogwood or Upchurch Animal Hospital, the Department of Human Services, D & D Auto Parts or print one from our website. Please fill it out completely. We cannot help you if you do not supply the required information. Don't litter! Fix your critter!

We do take strays and stray puppies that have been caught and confined if we have room in a foster home. We may ask if you can keep them until our next trip. We do not have a shelter. Our 6 fosters homes are constantly full and our foster parents are worn out. Sometimes, we have parvo or pups that are sick in some other way and we cannot take any more canines until this passes. We can only take canines that fit the criteria set by our no kill sister shelter. We can take puppies and dogs that are under 50 lbs. and under 5 years of age. They must be well behaved and easy to manage. No biters or Pit Bull or Pit Bull Mixes are allowed. They must be in good health. * The owner/rescuer is asked to transport the canines to one of our members to receive parvo/distemper shots, worming, etc. If the puppies are over 12 weeks old, the owner/rescuer is responsible for getting them to a veterinarian for the state required rabies vaccination. We ask for a tax deductible donation to help pay for the gasoline for the trip and the keep our organization going. The owner must transport the canine to our loading point at 7A.M. Sharp on the day of the trip.

We do transport litters of puppies from private individuals provided that they meet our criteria and the owner follows the requirements stated above. The mother dog must be spayed. If the owner can’t afford the full amount of the operation, Best Friends will assist.

We do take owner surrendered canines provided that they meet our criteria and the owner follows the requirements stated above. *

We do not come to your house and pick up stray dogs. We are not animal control. If you have a adoptable stray and are willing to work with us, we can help you. If you feel that the county/city needs animal control and a shelter, please contact your county com-missioner or city councilmen.

We do not go out and round up abandoned puppies or dogs. By the time you call us, the animal is gone. If you see them and would like to help them, please catch them, confine them, and call us at 931- 397-0116. One of our volunteers will call you back. We may ask if you can keep them until our next trip, depending on foster home availability. We will provide parvo/distemper vaccinations, worming and flea/tick medication if needed.

We do not go out and pick up dogs and cats that have been injured by a vehicle or animal.

We do not follow up on calls of animal abuse. The humane laws were established by the State of Tennessee and are enforced by the local law departments. We are not a certified humane society or animal cops. We have no authority or training to confiscate abused animals. We will gladly assist the Police or Sheriff in investigating this if they ask us.

We work monthly on fund raisers to pay for basic pet care, vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, and heartworm. We do not have the funds to help an animal in need of extensive medical care. The fund raisers consist of bake sales, horse shows, traffic stops, raffles, dinners, collecting aluminum cans, and auctions.

Are you concerned about the pet population in Fentress County? Please consider joining our all volunteer group. We always welcome new members, ideas, and special skills. We all have something in common with our love for animals. We work hard but try to have fun doing it! You may do as much or as little as you like. To join, from our website, please print and fill out a membership application and mail it or better yet, come to our monthly meeting. We meet at the Fentress County Library at 6 P.M. on the first Monday of the month. All are welcome!

Please make a tax deductible donation so that we can continue our mission to help the community and the animals. Use the links below to check us out and make a donation on line!