Mesa

sex: male
born: April 1998 (est.)
birth place: Colorado (est.)
champion: Cindy Cleland

deceased: 26 August 2003

Almost every animal at Wolf has had a champion, someone who connected with them and their plight. A special person who went the distance to find them a home at Wolf.

given sanctuary: 27 December 1998

 

Mesa's Memorial
see Newsletter - Summer 2003 (click)

Mesa's Story

Mesa’s story, as we know it, begins in Grand Junction, Colorado. No one knows exactly what happened to Mesa before he was picked up as a stray by the Mesa County Animal Control. Even his name was unknown, and he did not become Mesa until he arrived at the Wolf Sanctuary. Luckily for Mesa, the animal control officer that brought him into the shelter realized what he was, and what a truly amazing exception to the rule he would turn out to be.

Cindy, who apprehended Mesa, became his champion. It is impossible, even through DNA testing, to tell if a canine is part wolf. Regardless, Mesa was branded a wolf-dog. If his owner did not come forward to claim him within the prescribed time, Mesa would be euthanized!

During Mesa’s incarceration, Cindy came to know the white wolf-dog. When Mesa was captured, it was apparent from his physical condition that he had been on his own for a long period of time. Mesa was basically starving to death. He had, sometime in his short life, been injured seriously, and, in the dead of winter, his fur was falling out in handfuls. Cindy took it upon herself to look after this scrawny, half-starved puppy. As she spent more time with him, she realized how sweet and gentle this very large wolf-dog was.

As the days available to Mesa went by, Cindy became more and more concerned that his owners were not going to come forward and claim him. Mesa was running out of time, and Cindy had lost her heart. Going to her superior, she convinced her that Mesa was too magnificent an animal to be destroyed. Cindy went to work trying to find a sanctuary for Mesa. Normally, wolf-dogs, if unclaimed by their owners, are not put up for adoption. The liability involved causes most humane societies to destroy any suspected wolf-dog. Unfortunately, this leads to the death of thousands of animals across the United States. Remember, it is impossible at this time to tell if an animal has wolf in it, and many animals are determined to be part wolf, even if they are not.

After several weeks of fighting for Mesa’s life, Cindy located Wolf. It was agreed Wolf would accept him, and that Cindy would drive him to the Sanctuary. This sounds easy enough, but it took weeks to first find Wolf, and then time for Wolf to provide the animal control shelter with our credentials. Finally the day arrived, and Cindy delivered the still excruciatingly thin Mesa to Wolf.

When we first saw him, he was nothing but skin draped over bones. He was shedding so fast, we were afraid he might freeze in the snow. Our dismay grew as Cindy explained that he refused to eat much of the time. Immediately, we scheduled an appointment with our veterinarian to do a complete check on Mesa; we needed to know what we were dealing with, if he was to survive.

As mentioned at the very beginning of this story, no one knew Mesa’s background; but during the vet check, it started to become clearer. The limp Mesa had in his right leg was caused by one or more surgeries. Someone at sometime in his young life (the vet had estimated his age to be 7 to 8 months) had loved him a great deal. Someone cared enough to pay for the surgeries on his leg. Other than being extremely underweight, Mesa passed his exam. Of course, we did not know if he had any preventative shots, so they were administered. Cindy had paid for his neutering, and it was now time to begin his life at the Sanctuary.

Our biggest concern was, of course, his weight and apparent lack of appetite. The Vet believed that if we could help him gain weight, his leg would also improve. We became very creative in feeding Mesa, getting left over prime rib from a local restaurant and by giving him roasted chickens donated from the grocery store and mixing them with a special prescription dog food. Now, most animals would give just about anything to be fed what we were attempting to feed Mesa, but Mesa either was afraid to eat, or had forgotten how. It became necessary for us to force feed him, slowly putting small amounts in his mouth, almost down his throat, and holding his mouth closed until he would swallow. This may sound a little extreme, but it was the only way to keep him alive. Gradually, over a three and one half-month period, Mesa become stronger. He started to eat on his own and began gaining weight. Mesa’s fur started to come back, and he was ready to move into an enclosure with other animals. Had Mesa not been what we call one in ten thousand, he more than likely would not have allowed us to force-feed him and would have died. Mesa’s personality, which is exceptional, allowed us to treat him, and, in essence, saved his life.

Being humans, we felt we knew which enclosure Mesa should be placed in, and with whom. We put him on a leash and walked him through the house pack, believing he would get along famously with Artemis and Merlin. We are human, and we could not have been more wrong about our assessment of where Mesa should live on a permanent basis. Mesa refused to enter the enclosure, and Merlin told us, in no uncertain terms, that he was not welcome. Meanwhile, Mesa was trying to let us know he wanted to be part of the “house pack” and that the members of the house pack were accepting him. It seems that the wolves and wolf-dogs knew better than us imperfect humans, and Mesa was released into the group he had chosen and who had chosen him.

Mesa has become one of the Ambassadors of the Wolf Sanctuary. He is a truly beautiful animal, with the personality to match. Mesa is such an exceptional creature that we often find ourselves explaining the one in ten thousand theory to people. Mesa sometimes gives the wrong impression to people - when they meet him, they feel that all wolf-dogs are like him. We carefully have to explain that Mesa is an exception. Regardless of Mesa’s personality, most wolf-dogs do not make good pets.

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