About Us

About the Owners

Mike & Judy Moore have been pet lovers all their lives. The Moores have spent most of the last 10 years getting to understand the dog kenneling business as customers. They moved from Kansas City to Seattle to St. Louis and on to Indianapolis as Mike climbed the corporate ladder. In every city, the Moores toured many facilities trying to find a kennel that they would trust to take care of their four-legged kids. In Man’s Best Friend Pet Resort, the Moores have created a place that they would be happy to take their pets to for an overnight stay.

Judy Moore was born and raised in Butler, MO. She moved to the Kansas City area when she was 18 to attend Brown Mackie College. After graduating, Judy became a Court Reporter, a profession she still enjoys today. Mike Moore was born and raised in Huntington Beach, CA. He moved to Kansas City in 1997 when he was recruited by Sprint to help them launch their wireless service. It was during this time that Mike and Judy met. They were married in downtown Kansas City at the Little Theater in September of 2000, and have enjoyed a fairy tale-like existence ever since.

Judy has always had cats, and lost her two cats of 20 years, Penny and Sugar, the year she purchased Man’s Best Friend. Because Penny & Sugar were such a big part of Judy’s adult life, you'll see their images featured in our company logo and in pictures throughout the resort. Judy likes to think Penny and Sugar are watching over the cattery to keep any dreaded dogs from entering. The Moores have adopted two new rescue cats, Fancy and Jaguar.

Mike and Judy adopted two rescue dogs, Kansas City Chief and California Girl, Chief and Cali for short, who have lived with them for as long as they've been together. Judy plans on becoming a Certified Dog Trainer and Behavioral Specialist in the near future.

History

Man’s Best Friend was founded by Mike Reynolds and his wife Laura in the late 1980’s. Mr. Reynolds was a renowned dog trainer who often trained dogs for movies, as well as working with law enforcement agencies to train their dogs for service. When Mike passed away in 2002, Laura took over the business, successfully running Man's Best Friend until she sold to the current owners in 2010. The kennel sits on 3.2 acres of land in a heavily populated area of Belton, MO, and has a total of 57 separate indoor/out door dog runs. The kennel also features a separate cattery, a large training room/indoor play area and grooming room.

Mission Statement

Man’s Best Friend Pet Resort will provide convenience and peace of mind to pet owners through superior service and exceptional care, giving the same love and attention to the pets entrusted in their care as they would their own pets.

Core Values

Empathy — Walk in other people’s (pets) shoes
Would you want to be locked in a cage all day? Neither would we. That’s why we will make sure that all pets entrusted in our care get plenty of play time, so their stay at Man’s Best Friend Pet Resort is as fun and relaxing as any stay their owners may have at a Five Star Hotel.

We will listen to our customers, employees and our vendors to strive at all times to be:

The pet care provider of choice
The employer of choice for pet lovers of all skills and abilities
The vendor of choice for all businesses and individuals with whom each and every one of us may come into contact

Man’s Best Friend takes pride in the much needed services that we provide; caring for each pet as if they were our own.

Integrity — Doing the right thing
Man’s Best Friend shall strive every day and in every business decision, policy, and transaction to consider and find the appropriate balance between profitability, ethics, and community, with the most consideration given to what's best for the pets under our care.

Man’s Best Friend shall maintain a work environment that is fair, safe, full of opportunity, free of prejudice, and, of course, fun.

Courage — Standing up for what we believe
It takes courage to be great. Courage is the willingness to challenge hierarchy, accepted practices and conventional wisdom. Courage includes truth telling and acting resolutely on our beliefs. It means standing by our convictions. For example:

We believe there is a serious pet overpopulation problem in the United States. We believe it is morally wrong to profit from the sale of dogs and cats when such a condition exists. Because demand for pets is at an all time high, it has led to too many people putting profits ahead of animal welfare. Man’s Best Friend will work tirelessly to educate people on the availability of pets (Including Purebred Pets) that can be adopted at rescue shelters. We will work with local, state and national government agencies to create stronger enforcement of Missouri’s minimum requirements for breeders and animal shelters.
We believe that there is rare need for any dog or cat to be euthanized. To this end, Man’s Best Friend Pet Resort has partnered with Wayside Waifs and other rescue groups to foster dogs on their behalf at no charge to the rescue group. At any given time, Man’s Best Friend has a minimum of 6 dogs from rescue groups, usually taking on dogs that are taking longer to get adopted, or are on the verge of being euthanized and that need the exercise that our facility can provide. We hope that through these partnerships we can play a role in accomplishing the ultimate goal of No More Homeless Pets.
We believe that more people need to understand how important it is to spay/neuter their pets to help control overpopulation of pets. We will work tirelessly to help educate the general public on the importance of spay/neutering their pets. It is our long term goal to open a low cost spay/neuter facility on our property.
We believe all pets can be taught to be gentle good loving pets without being shocked or hurt. Our obedience classes will focus on positive reinforcement training with the goal that the pet become a pet that can play with other pets and humans. We think it is morally wrong to train pets through shock therapy.

Community Involvement — Giving back to the communities that support us
Man’s Best Friend shall return a portion of our time, profits, and service to our community, keeping in mind always, that as members of our community, we have a responsibility to give back to the community that supports us, and in so doing, strengthen it.