In Memory of Mesa

We are very saddened to report that Mesa was euthanized on August 26th. His illness and death are a tremendous shock to all who knew him.

On the 24th he was very lethargic and out of sorts. We took him to the vet hospital and he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. He was put on antibiotics and IV fluids. We brought him home that night and kept him on the regimen that had been prescribed. He spent that night and the next day on our bed hooked up to the IV and receiving his medications. The evening of the 25th his temperature started to spike and we took him to the CSU Vet Teaching Hospital. The doctors got his temp down, stabilizing him and then performed many tests on the morning of the 26th.

The diagnosis was acute pancreatitis. The doctors believed that his digestive enzymes were out of control and actually digesting his pancreas. The treatment plan was to perform surgery to flush his digestive tract. They would then implant a feeding tube that would bypass the pancreas altogether, allowing it to heal. When they opened him up they discovered a tumor the size of a cantaloupe that had enveloped all of the organs and tissue surrounding the pancreas. It was inoperable and the prognosis suggested that he probably only had a few days left to live and that as a result of the surgery, and the severity of the pancreatitis, that those few days would be extraordinarily painful for him.

We made the decision not to put him through that torture. We kept him anesthetized until some of his special humans could make it to the hospital to be with him. He was euthanized in a very peaceful setting at 6:50 pm on the 26th.

Mesa was brought to Wolf by a Mesa County Animal Control Officer two days after Christmas in 1998. He had been a stray that was not claimed and won the hearts of those at the shelter. They could not euthanize him and went the extra distance to save him.

He was very underweight and suffering from an old injury to his right hip. He would not eat, we believe, due to the pain from his hip. The hip however, could not be operated on until he achieved a healthy weight, which might actually relieve the pain of bone on bone. He required force feeding for several months before he began eating on his own and indeed the extra muscle mass seemed to alleviate his pain.

Although his right leg was somewhat smaller than the left, he enjoyed running, playing and generally being a wolf. In 2002 he did require hip surgery and recovered very quickly from the extremely invasive surgery.

His presence and personality won him the hearts of all those, two and four legged, he came in contact with. He slowly became the alpha male of the house pack and the main attraction at the public events he attended. As an ambassador for Wolf he met and accepted thousands of humans into his company with grace and genuine affection. He sensed human pain and assisted in many healing efforts.

Mesa was and is a very special being. His physical presence will be sorely missed.

In Memory of Sara

On September 20th our world was again shaken. A crowd of unruly wolves, in the house pack, ran along a two-foot wide ledge on the back side of the enclosure. Sara was pushed over the edge. Although the fall was a relatively short distance for wolves, 18 to 24 inches, Sara evidently landed hitting her head. She did not move. Frank and Donna (one of our volunteers), who were in the back area at the time, immediately rushed to her. She was not breathing. They began CPR compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing. They continued for what seemed like hours. She did not respond -- she was gone.

Since Mesa's passing Sara was sort of uneasy and seemed somewhat lost. Sara and Mesa were the primary ambassador animals and frequently were together educating humans. They both, also participated in Reiki Healing sessions with numerous individuals. Their relationship was very close and we believe very special, although their personalities were quite different.

Mesa was the gentle giant and did not let anything bother him, accepting everything and everyone who came his way. Sara was much more vigilant and would sound the alarm whenever she was concerned. We believe that this concern was due to severe physical abuse that she received at the hands of an alcoholic, bearded human that wore a baseball cap, before she came to Wolf. In a lot of cases her alarm was sounded because of those characteristics in other humans. Sometimes we could not figure out why the alarm was going off. Sara had also been known for being one of the strongest of the ambassador animals. Strong-minded as well as possessing extreme physical strength. When she made up her mind she was going somewhere, you had to hold on tight, because she was going to get there. This balance of attitudes, between Mesa and Sara, provided an excellent exhibition for the educational goal of our programs.

Mesa and Sara fulfilled very different roles within the context of the house pack. Mesa was the alpha male and responsible for order and harmony. While Sara was actually the omega and gladly accepted the role of aunt to the pups that had been put into the house pack over the years. She raised Kasha, Shaman and Tunyan. She tended to their every need, including the regurgitation of food, cleaning them (including their private parts), and teaching proper wolf etiquette. She was an amazing surrogate mother for all of them. Even as Kasha and Shaman reached full maturity they would still allow Sara to tidy them up. Kasha and Shaman have been very tense since her death, but are coming around slowly with extra attention and love. Tunyan, now about 16 months old, is taking it much harder. With the loss of both Mesa and Sara, she will need a lot of time to understand.

We believe very strongly that although her death was physically an accident that spiritually it was not accidental at all. For whatever purpose intended, Sara and Mesa were needed together. We can intellectually accept this rationale, but emotionally we feel much the same as Sara did at the passing of Mesa -- sort of uneasy and somewhat lost.