News, Spring 2009, page 2

Sanctuary Update

note: When this story was written and the hard copy version of the newsletter was sent to the printer, there were significant events taking place that could not be reported. For more information on the situation with the County please go to - Save The Sanctuary (click).

In our Fall Newsletter, we explained the emergency evacuation of our satellite facility, WideAwake, and bringing the 6 remaining animals there to Wolf (See WideAwake to Wolf with Love). All of the animals have made huge strides in their physical and emotional recovery in 1/2-acre private habitats. We also explained that bringing them here put us over our county limit of 30 animals, bringing the total number of animals to 36. Larimer County approved an emergency dispensation to allow Wolf to keep the extra 6 animals, but only until January 30th. The following is the best we can do to get you updated on this grueling situation.

Since the move, we have been assiduously trying to work out a compromise to the lawsuit and/or get approval for a dispensation allowing us to keep the extra animals on site until natural attrition brings us back to 30. During this time, we lost two animals, Rami and Kenai, so we were now only 4 over the limit. The county remained firm on the deadline.

We also received another demand from their lawyer that the enclosures we built outside of the approved 5 acres of land, in anticipation of our special review approval, be removed by February 15th. This is not only impossible in the middle of winter, but Wolf cannot find any regulations that prevented us building them or supporting their demand that we take them down. As a side note, Wolf owns 182 acres, and is limited by the county to use only 5 acres (2.7%) of our own property. The habitats took over a year and a half to build, and would take even longer to ‘un-build’.

Fearing the worst, rescue alerts were sent to 90 other rescues/sanctuaries across the country trying to find homes for 4 of our animals. As we know too well in the wolf/wolf-dog rescue world, there was no where else for our animals to go. Forty of those organizations responded to our plea, noting they were full and the animals were best to stay here. Our legal counsel gathered these documents, and presented a letter to the County Commissioners on Janaury 29th.

We were very optimistic that the 2 new commissioners would understand our situation and be compassionate towards the animals. All 3 commissioners voted to deny our extension request on February 3rd, reportedly because there was no deadline. Apparently, “through natural attrition” was not specific enough. We had moved 4 animals on January 30th not wanting to risk getting the facility shut down.

A supporter who owns property near the Sanctuary was kind enough to let us foster 4 of our animals there. We spent a few days getting small, temporary enclosures ready for a few of our older animals. Unfortunately, all of the staff came down with the flu during this task. We were building enclosures from dawn to dusk with fevers, hot flashes and cold chills. We moved Samantha, Lakota, Merlin and Artemis to the foster location. It was very painful to have to move them, but at least they were close by, and we were certain we could work something out with the commissioners to bring them home soon. We submitted another extension request letter with statistics on how long our animals live supporting how soon we felt we would be back to 30. No response was ever received to that letter.

Then things got weird. The county attorney wrote to inform us that anywhere within Larimer County our animals went, that property would require a special review approval. The time (1 year) and expense ($5,000-$10,000) to accomplish this scared our foster location and us. We were forced to bring the animals back to Wolf in fear the County would penalize the other property owner. Soon after, we received a call that code compliance was scheduled to inspect Wolf on February 17th. If we were not back to 30 animals and did not have the new enclosures torn down, the county was threatening to schedule a 'show-cause' hearing to potentially revoke our special review approval and shut the facility down. Although we do not feel the county is being just in their decisions, this was not a risk worth taking.

More emergency calls went out and Pat Craig, Founder of The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS - click for link to their web site) in Keenesburg, CO stepped up to help. TWAS is a sanctuary for abused and abandoned exotic animals, including lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and more. Pat has been in the sanctuary business for almost 30 years, and has been a friend to Wolf through our 14 years. He immediately agreed to let Wolf build two small enclosures on his property to house 4 of our animals until the county or natural attrition allows us to bring them back. TWAS has truly been our angels through this situation.

Staff went to TWAS the next day to meet with Pat and discuss the build. We would build next to an existing 5-acre wolf habitat. This would be great, as our animals would still have the comfort of being next to other wolves. Plans were quickly made to build two 1/8-acre enclosures for the Wolf animals, and building would begin that weekend.

The next day, TWAS staff drilled all of the post holes, and set up materials to build underground dens and shade structures for the animals. Wolf pulled together a crew of 7 who set out Sunday morning for the build, working with the staff of TWAS. Things went great! Within a few hours, all of the posts were set, and we began hanging the fence. TWAS donated nearly all of the materials for the enclosures, using their own materials, equipment and staff time to get these enclosures done in a hurry. Things went so well, a volunteer was sent out to get the chain link used for dig guard at the bottom of the upright fence. By night fall, all of the fencing was stretched, and everyone went home exhausted after a good day’s work.

Monday morning started much the same, now with a crew of 6 Wolf people and 3 TWAS staff. Gates were quickly put in, all the dig guard was completed, and all the dig guard logs went in fast. A crane was used to drop more logs inside the fence to complete the shade structures. While those were constructed, fence panels were brought in to separate the 1/4-acre area into two sides. Dig guard was then put in along the fence panels. By days end, the enclosure only needed mulch on the dig guard and a few finishing touches.

Tuesday was filled with carrying loads of mulch to the dig guard and dens, setting up food and water buckets, placing doghouses, and double checking everything. By the afternoon, the enclosures were finished. We had just built two enclosures in 3 days! Granted this was done on flat land, which is much easier than building them at Wolf, on the side of a mountain -- but still a major miracle. Wolf sincerely thanks everyone involved with this emergency build:

Wolf Volunteers: Anna, Steve, Kiley, Morgan, Michelle, Chris, Susan, Tom, Zack, Rich

TWAS Staff: Pat, Toni, Casey, Mitch, Shilo, Shawna

To all the wonderful people of TWAS, thank you is not enough for giving of your time, material, land and more to help Wolf. We are truly in your debt, and sincerely appreciate you amazing generosity.

Besides moving 4 animals to TWAS, Wolf also needed to move animals around at our facility so all the animals were in habitats on the approved 5 acres. Unfortunately, this forced us to move the high stress WideAwake animals once again. On Wednesday, three staff members began by moving Merlin and Artemis to a smaller run in front of the house. They now have access to the deck and come into the house occasionally. Although stressed at first, they have now settled into their new home, and enjoy getting their meals on the deck. All of their meals are very controlled as Artemis is a diabetic.

On to Gina and Hammer, who would go into Merlin and Artemis’s former habitat. Travel kennels were set up in the containment area to herd the animals into. We prefer not to use drugs with the WideAwake animals due to the danger involved with their high stress levels. Gina was the first to be locked in the containment area. Staff then created a wall of bodies to push her into a corner and get her to run into a kennel on her own. This proved extremely difficult with only 3 humans, and took more time than we would have liked. After many tries, she was kenneled and loaded in the truck to calm down.

Next came Hammer, whose catch up went a lot better. He ran right into the containment area and laid down in a corner, submitting to the inevitable. We quickly kenneled him and released both into the new enclosure. They are doing well in their new home, especially Gina, who loves to fence fight with all of her neighbors.

The next day, we moved 4 animals to TWAS. Selecting who to take was just plain horrible. We knew we had to move social animals who would most readily accept new situations and people. With heavy hearts, we decided to move Samantha, Lakota, Sky and Nugget.

Volunteers attempted to hand inject Sky with drugs to knock him down. However, these animals are crazy smart, and he knew exactly what was going on. All attempts to inject him failed. Running low on time, we were forced to dart him. Unable to coax or force him into the containment area, we had to do this in the enclosure. There were 4 people trying to cover a 1/2-acre with a scared animal running full speed. We tried trapping him in a doghouse to no avail. Finally, Steve was able to get off a dart shot while Sky was moving. We exited the enclosure to let him calm down and go to sleep from the drugs.

Half an hour later, he was still not fully down. But we were out of time and had to catch him. Thankfully, Sky ran into a doghouse and went to sleep. We loaded him into the kennel and carried it to the gate. Nugget followed, which made her easy to leash. After they were safely loaded up, we went to get Sami and Lakota. They were so excited by all the activities that they ran to the gate and were easily leashed as well. They were loaded up, and the 2 hour trip to TWAS began.

All of the animals did great in the car, and were quickly released before the sun set. Pat and Shilo from TWAS helped get them settled into their new home, and got the protocol on daily meds, personalities, etc. Everyone was worried that Sky would freak out in the new enclosure, but he instantly loved it and calmed down quickly. TWAS staff has been socializing and caring for our animals daily, and Wolf volunteers visit 3-4 times a week as well. In fact, there are more Wolf volunteers visiting TWAS than Wolf right now. Another huge thank you to TWAS for being so accommodating with our animals and volunteers!

On Friday, we moved Arkte and Rachane into Sky’s former enclosure. This move went very well, as we only had to cut holes in two fences and coax them with treats. They love the new, larger space! Fence holes were closed up, doghouses moved around, and empty enclosures were prepared for new residents.

Three staff and a volunteer then went to catch up Luna and Lance, one of the hardest pairs. Kennels were staged, and Luna was quickly herded into the containment area. But she was not going in a kennel without a fight. Try as we might, she escaped every time we cornered her, snapping all the way. We tried darting, but she was moving too fast. Finally she gave in and went in a kennel. Onto Lance, who had no desire to enter the containment area. For what seemed like an eternity, we herded him around half an acre of difficult terrain. Eventually, he went in the containment area, and was easily kenneled. Their release went well, although they remain stressed when humans are close.

Saturday was devoted to regular chores, giving everyone a much needed break. On Sunday, there were four volunteers to help catch the next pair, J.J. and Atlantis. With staff, there were now 7 humans. After placing kennels, we started up the mountain for J.J. Almost immediately, she ran to the containment area. With so many people, cornering her was a breeze, and she went in a kennel within a few minutes. Great! We started after Atlantis, who knew what was coming, ran into the containment area and directly into a kennel on his own. They were quickly released into their new home, and are steadily getting comfortable with it.

With all the moves completed, we were in compliance with county demands, minus the enclosures still standing, which are empty. The inspection went well, with the officer confirming the number of animals. Days later, we received a letter from the county attorney thanking us for moving the animals, but still demanding the new enclosures be torn down by a new date, March 20th. If not, we face either a show-cause hearing to potentially revoke our special use permit, or be charged to have the county tear down the enclosures, or both. Wolf continues to diligently work with our attorneys, explain to the commissioners that there is no way to remove the enclosures in this time frame especially during winter, and find the regulations requiring this. We will keep you up to date as this unfolds.

Wolf was beyond thrilled with how well all of the animals were doing. Everyone settled in their new homes well, and the animals at TWAS loved their new digs and special attention. Sky is actually a completely different animal now, very mellow, meeting new people, and actually lying down to let humans love on him.

However, volunteers started noticing Sami having back end weakness, excessive drinking and lethargy. At first, we didn’t think much of it, as she had those symptoms on and off at Wolf, and the vets had performed full examines and blood tests on her twice and found nothing.

One day, it appeared to be getting much worse. She was very lethargic and had concentrated urine in the morning. By the afternoon, her urine was dark, like it contained blood. Wolf sent staff the next morning to exam her and get blood and urine for testing. They immediately noticed her eyes were jaundiced, a very bad sign the liver may be failing. They were unable to get urine, so rushed the blood for testing. The results were very bad. Sami was in severe liver failure, probably from a chronic condition, and there was nothing we could do for her.

We knew we needed to bring Samantha home to pass, and Lakota must come with her. It is very important for bonded animals to be with each other when one passes. Now the dilemma: to do this, we had to move two other animals to stay within our county limit. We painfully decided to temporarily move Gina and Hammer in order to bring in Sami and Lakota. Sami was thrilled to be home, and both animals stayed until her passing on March 4th (her memorial will be in our next newsletter). During Lakota’s grieving period, we discussed at length where he should be placed. The decision was made to try him with Sky and Nugget, as they have been fence mates for years, and are roughly the same age. On March 7th, Lakota returned to TWAS.

One of the middle fence panels was removed to give the animals the entire enclosure. Nugget and Lakota were immediately bouncing around, excited to meet, and totally accepting each other. Sky hid in his den for awhile, but finally came out. At first, the boys wanted nothing to do with each other. Then a fight broke out, nothing too bad, but definitely not a good start for the group. The disagreement was quickly broken up, and the two have been calmer since.

All in all, the animals are doing well with all of the changes. We are hopeful to find a resolve to all of this soon, and will continue the saga in our next newsletter and through E-News updates. If we do not have your email address, please email info@wolfsanctuary.net and we will be able to keep you up to date.

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