By Janet Vormittag
WKTV Contributor
BestPals Animal Rescue Center is having a party and you’re invited.
“We’re celebrating the past—ten years at this location—and combining it with looking forward,” said BestPals Executive Director Michelle Kenat.
The celebration is Saturday, June 25, noon to 5 p.m., at 6674 Blair Lane, Holland.
There will be games for children, tours of the facility, food trucks, a live DJ, prizes, raffles, a bouncy house and other animal rescues. There will be pets available for adoption.
“We’re going to have so much fun,” Kenat said.
BestPals is seeking more support from the community. Kenat’s goals for the future include a new furnace for the cat building, an expanded emergency fund, a generator for backup power, a sprinkler system for fire suppression and a transport van.
Rescue is in her blood
Kenat has been involved in rescue her entire life. Growing up in Chicago, she got her first dog when she was three. Her grandmother picked up stray dogs and Kenat was her helper.
“It’s in my blood. It’s my passion,” she said.
When Kenat was 16, she started volunteering at a shelter. She met a woman who used her home as a rescue for cats and dogs. “She was my mentor and role model.”
After Kenat married, she and her husband moved to Holland to raise their children.
When the kids were older Kenat started volunteering at Harbor Humane Society. Eventually, she was hired as the shelter’s intake coordinator. She met like-minded people, and they saw a need for another option for owner-surrendered pets.
Making the dream a reality
Kenat’s dream was to have a home where she could have a rescue. After a divorce, she looked for her dream house. She found it at 13888 Blair St. in Holland. The three-acre site had a house, a pond, and an out building that had once been used as a dog boarding facility.
“I didn’t even see the inside of the house when I said I wanted it,” she recalled.
The site was close to US 31 and the Chicago-raised woman loved the sound of the traffic. “I hear the cars and it soothes me,” Kenat said.
BestPals officially opened in 2013. The group is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and is licensed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture. They have room for 30 cats in the renovated dog-boarding building where there are large kennels with cat trees, cubbies for sleeping and plenty of toys. Each kennel has a window where outside birdfeeders attract birds to entertains the cats.
The house’s attached garage has been transformed into a dog kennel with room for 10 to 15 dogs. Kenat also fosters cats and dogs in her home.
The perfect adoption makes it worth it
BestPals takes in owner-surrendered pets and cats and dogs from overcrowded shelters. Two shifts of volunteers come each day to clean and play with the animals.
Kenat said the hardest thing about being in rescue is finding a balance between rescue and the rest of her life.
“It’s definitely 24/7,” she said.
Kenat manages intake, takes animals to the vet, gives medications, screens adopters, trains and oversees volunteers, and does fundraising. She spends more time on running the business end of BestPals than she would like.
“I thought there would be more time to enjoy each animal,” she said. She loves walking the dogs and cuddling with the cats.
The best part of having a rescue is finding the perfect family for a cat or dog. An example is a half deaf dog who was adopted by a family that knew sign language.
Kenat works hard to match pets to families. She only does foster-to-adopt, meaning a cat or dog lives with their new family before adoption fees are paid and papers signed. BestPals has less than a one percent return rate.
“There’s nothing like a perfect adoption,” she said.
For more information on BestPals Animal Rescue Center visit www.bestpalsrecue.org or follow them on social media. Email info@bestpalsrescue.org or call/text 616-212-3368.
Janet Vormittag started Cats and Dogs, a Magazine Devoted to Companion Animals in 2006 as a monthly publication. It’s geared towards West Michigan readers and features pet-related advertisers, animals available for adoption, and articles about animal rescues and pets. In 2018, Cats and Dogs transitioned to a quarterly publication. The print edition is free and can be found at local libraries and businesses.
