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KANAB — There are some dogs who want nothing to do with a news camera.
Bela is the opposite, coming in for his close-up, kisses and lens licks whenever he got the chance.
"He's very loyal. He gets attached very quickly,” said John Garcia, who works with Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab.
Garcia has been able to get to know Bela very well the past few weeks. In fact, he drove 1,800 miles to Indiana and back just to get the German Shephard to Utah.
"Bela handled it like a champ," Garcia said. "Every single day he learned more, he had a lot of fun and, all in all, he's such a good dog."
It could have gone the other way for Bela.
The dog made national news because of the unique circumstances surrounding his owner's will. When his owner died, she left the executor two options: either cremate Bela and spread his ashes with hers, or send the dog to Best Friends Animal Society.
It was a request workers at Best Friends didn’t even know about.
"In this case, once we knew we were kind of part of Bela's life without ever really realizing it, we decided we would do everything we could to get him out to us,” said Christine Vergallito, dogtown manager at Best Friends.
Workers say Bela does have some behavioral issues and other issues they're working with. However, so far, they say he is going very well.
"It's something we do every day; we handle special needs. We handle behavorial issues and we give them an enriched life here,” Vergallito said.
Ever since Bela's arrvial, workers say they’re noticing him wagging his tail more often. They still want to work with him more and introduce him to other dogs, animals and people.
"It's just a matter of time before, one way or the other, he's happy and he lives a full, rich life,” Garcia said.
Workers hope Bela can be adopted one day. If not, they're happy to have him live out his life at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.
Contributing: Stace Hall
