News, Winter 99-00, page 2

Although many of you have contacted us or read the latest news in the paper, I am compelled to reiterate recent events for those outside of our local area.

Our last bulletin explained our gratitude to all those who sent communication to the county commissioners on our behalf. We also expressed our optimism that the commissioners would grant us the zoning variance at their next meeting on November 8th. We voiced that our concerns were focusing on the legal challenges that a few opponents were threatening and initiated a legal defense fund with various pieces of Pats’ artwork as incentives for various levels of donations toward that fund.

The commissioners failed to take a final vote on November 8th and again continued the hearing, this time to December 13th. That meeting brought what we believe was a political decision. The commissioners voted unanimously to grant Wolf the variance with 12 conditions attached to it. Although we believe that many of the conditions are extreme, we were willing to accommodate all of them except for the first. That one being to limit the number of animals at the facility to 30. Being that we already have 42 animals in our care and there is not room for 12 at other facilities, it would mean a death sentence for 12 individuals. This option was totally unacceptable to us and focused us on other alternatives.

We could move the facility to a less restrictive county. We could file a law suit challenging the county. Knowing that either option would be very expensive, we chose the least expensive. To file the suit against the county.

On January 12th our lawyer (James Mackler) filed the suit. It contends that: First, the law requiring citizens with more than three dogs and/or cats to apply for special permission from the county to keep their pets is unconstitutional. There is no rational basis for a law that says that 4 animals are necessarily any more of a nuisance than 2 or 3 animals. Second, the Board’s decision to reduce the number of wolves and wolf-dogs from 42 to 30 is completely arbitrary. There was no evidence that reducing the number of animals would make the operation safer, reduce traffic, or reduce noise. In fact, the evidence was that Wolf could support 55 or more animals without causing any problems at all.

We have been asked numerous times why these few animals are so important, when so many homeless are being euthanized. We could not in good conscience deviate from our philosophy, the same philosophy we espouse in our educational programs. That being, all creatures have a soul and spirit that is valuable and once you take responsibility for another creature it is for the natural life of that animal. The story that comes to mind was one that we had heard on a movie. This story was about a little girl who was running along the beach after a very bad storm. The storm had washed up thousands of starfish that were stranded on the sand and dying. She was grabbing starfish as fast as she could and throwing them back into the water. A man seeing her vigor questioned her saying “you can’t save them all, so what does it really matter.” Her response to the man is the same response that we now use, “it matters to that one.”

We realize that most people would not be prepared to sacrifice all that they have for the sake of a “mere” animal. We believe that maybe this mentality is the very reason we have been chosen to fight this battle, to help change the mentalities that still view other life forms on this planet as disposable commodities put here for our use and to be discarded when we are inconvenienced by their possession.

In any case, the die has been cast and we are committed to its successful conclusion. In order to survive we need the help of every individual who is committed to the rights of animals. We realize that our supporters are not necessarily wealthy, but we believe that if each of them kept our plight towards the front of their consciousness and spread the message, to the individuals that they come in contact with, that we will garnish the level of support that it is going to take. A side benefit of this course will be to broaden the awareness of the problems associated with owning a wolf-dog and hopefully educate more people before they purchase one.

We are including in this newsletter the offer made in the last note so that individuals who donate to the Legal Defense Fund will receive a piece of Pats’ artwork. We also encourage all of you to write to the following individuals to voice your opinion.

The legal battle to exist requires more money than Wolf currently can accommodate. All donations to this fund are tax deductible and will be rewarded with one of the pieces of Pat’s artwork as delineated below.

      $25 - $49 _____   3.5” x 5”     Sky Print
      $50 - $99 _____   8.5” x 11”   Nanook (eyes only) – signed & numbered
                       _____   8.5” x 11”   Sasha (eyes only) – signed & numbered
                       _____   8.5” x 11”   Zeke (eyes only) – signed & numbered
$100 - $249 _____   8” x 10”      Sky Print – signed & numbered
$250 - $499 _____   17.5” x 23” Nanook (eyes only) – signed & numbered
                       _____ 17.5” x 23”   Sasha (eyes only) – signed & numbered
                       _____ 17.5” x 23”   Zeke (eyes only) – signed & numbered
$500 - $999 _____ 18” x 24”      Sky Print – signed & numbered
$1000 - +       _____ 18” x 24”      Sky Artist Proof – signed & numbered

Nanook (eyes only) Sasha (eyes only) Zeke (eyes only)

Sky

Become A Member of Wolf