Zeke

sex: male
born: August 1994 (est.)
birth place: Colorado

deceased: 18 March 2002

given sanctuary: 01 February 1995

 

 

 

Zeke's Memorial
see Newsletter - Spring 2002 (click)

Zeke's Story

Zeke was brought to Wolf on November 11th, 1995. Either lost or deserted by his previous owners, Zeke was found by a Denver school teacher on her way to work. Dorothy could have left this exuberant, six month old stray on the side of the road, but instead chose to take him along with her to school. Once at school, Zeke was given over to the care of another concerned human, Dana. During that day, Dana, also a teacher, and her twenty-eight students, cared for, loved and played with Zeke, who was the talk of the school.

At the end of the day Zeke accompanied Dana home and was given to Dana’s son, Daniel, as his pet. Daniel, who was five, was thrilled to have a puppy of his own. Zeke’s new owners spent the weekend with him, taking him for a hike and watching him play with Daniel. During this weekend, Dana also discovered what Zeke really was, a wolf-dog.

Monday morning, Zeke was left in the backyard while the family went off to school and work. Upon their return, they discovered that Zeke had escaped from the backyard by digging under the fence. Picked up by animal control, Zeke was now a juvenile delinquent! Dana, to her dismay, discovered that unless she could prove that Zeke had been hers for more than ten days, she would not be able to get him released. Zeke had done nothing wrong, but he was to be euthanized because he was a wolf-dog. Wolf-dogs are not considered adoptable animals at the humane society, and are automatically euthanized if turned over by the owner, or if the owner cannot prove that the animal belongs to them. A phone call to Dorothy provided the answer. Dorothy wrote a letter explaining Dana’s ownership of Zeke, and he was released to Dana, one day before he was to be euthanized!

Dana read all of the information that was given to her by the humane society about wolf-dogs, and decided that it would not be wise to keep Zeke with her five year old son in the same house. It was decided Zeke would go to the Wolf Sanctuary.

Zeke was placed in the enclosure with Sasha and Lara. For Sasha, this was a Godsend. Lara was extremely reluctant to play, due to her previous upbringing, and Sasha had a tremendous amount of energy to expend. He immediately took the young Zeke under his care, and began teaching him all of the wolf ropes. They bonded quickly, and even got Lara to loosen up every once in a while and play with them, as well.

The threesome appeared to be very happy together, and Zeke began to develop his own personality. A small patch of blue in his right eye emphasized his wide-eyed enthusiasm and precociousness. He was the proverbial trickster, and took every opportunity he could to play, tease and otherwise enjoy being alive. It got even more exciting when a small female was rescued and introduced to this group, Artemis. They all seemed to be doing great together.

Even at the Sanctuary, however, life is not always kind. Zeke was noticed to be limping one day, and was diagnosed with a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in his left knee. He was operated on and kept with the house pack for twelve weeks to recover. The reunion with his pack was outstanding to watch, and all appeared to again be wonderful, but not for long. Sasha was noticed to be vomiting blood and was rushed to the CSU Vet Teaching Hospital where, after one failed diagnosis, was examined again and diagnosed with the advanced stages of diabetes. Unfortunately, so many organs had been affected and he was failing so rapidly, that the decision was made to euthanize him. This situation was not only traumatic for his four-legged pack, but his two-legged pack grieved, as well. Wolf believes it is necessary for the animals that had close contact with a departed animal to be allowed to examine the remains, in order to receive some sort of closure as to the status of their companion. Sasha was returned to the Sanctuary and brought around to all of the enclosures of the animals that had contact with him. The instant change in Zeke’s normal exuberance was immediate and horrific to watch. He rushed down from the top of the enclosure to greet Sasha, got to within a foot of him, realized the situation, put the brakes on and immediately charged back up the mountain and hid in his doghouse. It took weeks for the grieving to begin to subside.

Another animal was rescued and introduced into Zeke’s enclosure, Merlin. He was a young wolf-dog from Vermont, and very energetic. Zeke this time took on the role of mentor and playmate. The three young animals and Lara again seemed to be doing great. Not for long, though, as Zeke tore his right ACL and again was operated on and placed with the house pack to recuperate. This time, the recovery process did not go as well, and he developed an infection that caused him to chew at the site and expose a piece of the suture material that replaces the ACL. After months of clipping the end, it has become obvious that the suture is migrating and Zeke continues to nibble at it, keeping a small area unhealed. He will be going in again to have that knee operated on.

His length of time away from his pack now has made it impossible to return him to their enclosure. He seems to be accepting his situation well, and has become one of the favorites in the house pack, maintaining his exuberance and teasing.

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