Every season seems to bring a new variety of challenges and blessings to Wolf and its mission. It certainly is never dull.

County Struggles

This winter focused a significant amount of our time, energy and emotion on the continuing struggles to win approval for the Sanctuary expansion (see County Hearing for Expansion). And it is not over yet. Wolf is proceeding to put together a ballot initiative ( ‘Help Us Survive’ ) to help resolve these issues (see Ballot Initiative).

Loved Ones Passed

Our intensity in that area was unfortunately punctuated with a series of older residents becoming ready to pass. They included; Gead, Chocolate Face, Akyra, Kasha and most recently Shadowhawk. These loved ones may have been ready, however we certainly were not and we miss their physical presence immensely. Their stories are recounted in this newsletter (except for Shadowhawk, whose story will be in the next newsletter).

Blessings

It also appears that as the Universe threw these tremendous burdens our way, it also sent some angels to help carry them. We were very blessed with some outstanding supporters coming forward to help and are very grateful for their dedication and support for our mission. Although most of them prefer not to be publicly thanked and identified, we feel compelled to acknowledge our gratitude for their outstanding support.

In December we were gifted a new Kawasaki Mule ATV. Many of you will remember that we did have an ATV at the Sanctuary, to do water and food changing, but needed to take it to WideAwake. This gift has saved us and our volunteers a tremendous amount of time and energy, not having to carry everything by hand.

In January we were gifted with some outstanding support for consulting work to help in trying to resolve the county’s concerns. Associated with our Amended Special Review many thanks to the law firm of Carver Schwarz McNab & Bailey, LLC and more specifically Stewart McNab who provided our legal representation pro bono.

Also in January, we were presented with a 1997 Jeep Cherokee. It is in great running condition and is actually the newest vehicle in our small fleet. This will provide us with an outstanding gas-saving alternative to our old pickup trucks.

In March we were very blessed to receive satellite high-speed internet. This gift will save us significant amounts of time and frustration. We have been working with dial-up connections since the beginnings of the internet.

Also in March, we received a 2005 T@B Travel Trailer. This donation has a tremendous variety of uses for us and will make animal transport much easier and more comfortable for the animals and the humans.

Although we have singled out these particular donations to recognize, please know that our survival and success is very dependent on the broad base of caring individuals who we are blessed to have as supporters. We are very thankful for each and everyone of you, and are honored by your ongoing support.

New Residents At The Sanctuary

As openings occur at the Sanctuary, is becomes a challenge to find the right individual to fill a void. When there is an individual who has been left without a companion, it becomes imperative that the new individual be a good match. Once an animal is accepted there is no sending them back as that mentality and approach is against our philosophy.

Mucqua needed a new companion after the passing of Gead and a single female at WideAwake, Isis, was brought in. (see Isis & Mucqua Become A Couple)

After Chocolate's passing, we were very intent on finding a young male for Isabeau to exert her energy on. She has been so energetic in her play with Shaman that his hips were starting to show the wear. It was necessary to find an alternative which would give poor Shaman a break. After a false start, the perfect individual was identified for us by the Universe. Ison was in New Mexico and going to be euthanized. He was just turning a year old and should be the perfect candidate for Isabeau. He arrived at Wolf on March 19th and a story will be done in our next newsletter on his acceptance into Shaman's Pack. It is going great and does appear that the desired results are occurring.

Kai likewise, needed a new companion after the passing of Akyra. Another single female from WideAwake, Pride, seemed the perfect match (Kai & Pride Become Buds).

Tunyan needed a new companion as well, after the passing of Kasha. All of the animals at WideAwake were now paired with their own companions and we would have to look elsewhere. Synchronistic events occurred and it became very apparent that her new companion should be Sigmund (see Sigmund Arrives At The Sanctuary).

After Shadowhawk's passing, Kiki again was without a companion. Her solo, mournful howls told of her sorrow and grief and we were searching for the right companion. A free-ranging very high content animal had been caught in North Carolina and needed placement immediately. He was between 3 and 5 years old and seemed to be the perfect match. Our contact in North Carolina arranged for him to vet checked and neutered and he would be coming to Wolf on March 27th. The Universe had other plans as this male we named Faelan, died during surgery due to anaethesia issues. We were all devastated and have taken his death very hard. Although we had never met him in person, his spirit seemed to know he belonged at Wolf. His ashes will be sent here and buried in the memorial gardens.

The quest for Kiki's new companion could not however be postponed during our grieving process and we moved ahead. Another high content individual was ready to be confiscated and killed in Illinois, where it is illegal to possess wolf-dogs. Our contact working from Wisconsin did an amazing job of convincing the animal's current guardian of releasing him to Wolf. She made arrangements very quickly for his transport as there was concerns that local animal control officers might be forced to confiscate this boy. His name was King and was just short of 2 years old.

King who was renamed Rajan arrived on March 29th at 9:30 pm. The last leg of his transport (12 hours) was handled by two very special women from Nebraska. We are very grateful to Connie and Patty for their dedication and commitment in assisting to save this boy.

He is currently in the containment area of Kiki's habitat as we assess his health, getting his general exam performed and bringing his vaccinations current. Kiki and Rajan seem to be very ready to meet each other in person and have been running the fence line in their attempts to play. We believe this match is going to be outstanding. We will cover more of this situation in our next newsletter.

Weather

Weather at the Sanctuary was relatively mild compared to last year and we were very grateful for that, even though we do need more moisture. The weather at WideAwake, although not as bad as last year, did require several trips by Sanctuary staff and volunteers to deal with snow issues (see WideAwake Update).