Gregory Castle, who called Kanab home for more than four decades and helped build Best Friends Animal Society into a nationally recognized animal welfare organization, passed away suddenly from natural causes on Saturday, May 17, 2025. He was 83.

As one of the original co-founders of Best Friends Animal Society and CEO from 2009 to 2018, Gregory played a pivotal role in pioneering the movement to end the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. animal shelters.

Gregory moved to Kanab in 1984, when he and a team of friends broke ground on Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and began building it from the ground up. Best Friends acquired the old Kanab Movie Ranch from Golden Circle Tours. It was mostly raw land that had been a popular filming location for Westerns through the 1970’s but big Hollywood westerns had gone out of style and the property, originally a Robinson ranch, was looking for a third act when Best Friends came along. Gregory himself helped install the original water and electrical lines across the 3,000-acre canyon, learning as he went from Do-It-Yourself manuals and working closely with local do-it-all contractors such as Dean and Gene Heaton, Clark Lamb and others.

In 2000, along with his wife Julie, Gregory started No More Homeless Pets in Utah, which evolved into No-Kill Utah (NKUT), a statewide coalition of animal welfare organizations, veterinarians and animal lovers collaborating to deliver low cost spay/neuter services, proactive shelter adoptions and public awareness campaigns to put Utah on the path to no-kill. The coalition became a model for cooperative efforts to save animals in communities across the country.

Born in Cranbrook, England, Gregory spent his childhood in Folkestone, England, a coastal access point during World War II that endured numerous bombings and air raids and served as a major landing spot for the Dunkirk evacuation. His father, Norman Castle, was a civil engineer for the British army who remained in Folkestone during the war while the rest of the town was evacuated. Gregory’s mother was among those who relocated to safety and Gregory was subsequently born in a country house in Cranbrook. His father was later awarded with one of Britain’s highest honors, an Order of the British Empire, for his heroic work in Folkestone during the war.

Gregory earned a degree in civil engineering and studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge University, one of the world’s oldest and most respected universities. He had a passion for filmmaking and was a member of the venerable Cambridge Footlights, one of Britain’s oldest student sketch comedy troupes that produced some of the core team of Monty Python’s Flying Circus as well as many other famous English actors.

Gregory’s interests and accomplishments stretched far beyond his work with animals. He played the bagpipes, flew small planes, and was an endurance athlete well into his 70s.

A dedicated long-distance runner, Gregory completed 17 marathons, including three Boston Marathons, and at age 73 became the oldest person at the time to complete the grueling Grand to Grand Ultra - a seven-day, 170-mile endurance race through Utah’s backcountry. Locally, Gregory was often spotted over the years running on Kanab’s trails or grabbing a bite in town at Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fired Kitchen, which he co-owned.

He is survived by his wife, Julie Castle; daughter Carragh Maloney; granddaughter Zoe Glover; brother, Christopher Castle; sisters Jan Castle and Susan Duys; and his beloved pets: cats Ellie and Maggie, and dogs Sunny and Marley.

Gregory’s legacy will continue through the work of Best Friends and in the lives of countless animals and people his vision helped save and inspire. He will be missed by many in Kanab and far beyond.

A celebration of Gregory’s life will be held at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary on Sunday, June 8, at 5 p.m. and all who knew Gregory or were touched by his work are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, please adopt or foster a homeless pet or donate to a local animal charity of your choice to help continue Gregory’s life’s work of saving animals.