Bacchus

sex: male
born: January 1993
birth place: ?
died: 20 February 2003

given sanctuary: 01 November 1995

 

 

 

Bacchus' Memorial
see Newsletter - Winter 02-03 (click)

Bacchus' Story

Bacchus came to Wolf the day that he was supposed to be euthanized by the Larimer County Humane Society. It appeared that his owner had left him with a friend in Fort Collins for an extended stay, while he was in the Caribbean doing some sort of postgraduate work. Bacchus immediately got himself into trouble by killing the cat that belonged to his interim care taker. She, of course, was extremely upset, and had animal control pick him up. She did not understand his genetics, or the potential risk she accepted, by agreeing to take care of him. In her grief, she blamed Bacchus for the situation, and wanted him dead. Luckily, she had a roommate who was more understanding of his natural instincts, and she began looking for an option that would be better than death. She learned about Wolf, and attempted to get him placed at the sanctuary temporarily. She had been in contact with his owner, and assured us that he would be returning to Fort Collins in the spring, and would pick him up then.

Unfortunately, the sanctuary had no spaces available for a new animal, and our policy is not to board animals for individuals. Wolf believes that boarding for a very social creature, that gets very stressed under new situations, is inappropriate. Besides, this champion was still having trouble getting animal control to release him to her. To make a long story somewhat shorter, we could not let Bacchus be killed, and agreed to keep him in a new isolation enclosure that we had been planning to build, until his owner returned to the area.

Bacchus was delivered to Frank at the close of his work day in town. He was massive, very upset, snapping and growling at anyone who came to close to the travel kennel he was in. On top of all that, he has what is called third eyelid disease, which, although is not painful, causes the edges of his eyes to be very red. The best way of describing his appearance is that of Kujo. Frank's trip up the mountain with Bacchus was a self analysis session. The emotions ran the gamut, from anger at the individuals who let Bacchus get into this situation to self chastisement for allowing himself to bail them out of their responsibility, and, by the way, what happened to the policy of not boarding animals. Here was this monster in a travel kennel, whose new enclosure had not been built yet! Frank had already put in a ten-hour day at work, and the weather man was predicting snow. As Frank calmed down and realized that Bacchus would be dead without these efforts, his mind turned to planning the most expeditious approach to building the new isolation enclosure.

He arrived at the sanctuary and went to change his clothes. Unbeknownst to him, Pat was attempting to comfort Bacchus. She went right up to the kennel, put her hand inside and began stroking him. As Frank returned and saw the situation, he gasped at his lack of communication to Pat about the danger of this animal. Too late! She had already made a friend of him and was getting licks. Oh well, so much for macho Frank.

As predicted, it began to snow. Frank, Pat and Lea (a volunteer) set to work to get the 30' by 30' octagonal isolation enclosure built. By now it was dark, and cars had to be aimed at the building site with their lights on in order to accomplish the task. By one in the morning, 15" of snow had fallen, a dog house had been moved into the enclosure, and Bacchus was settling into his temporary home. Frank, Pat and Lea were wet, cold and giddy from their lunatic activities, and settling down to a cup of hot chocolate.

Spring came and went without word from Bacchus' owner. It became apparent that he was here to stay, and plans were made to move him into an enclosure with companions. Peter needed a buddy and Peter's mom, Chana, could use the diversion away from herself. Although there were a few tense moments in the introductions, the three have bonded very well and are a joy to watch.

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