Sky came to Wolf when he was only seven months old. Before that, he lived with a family in Denver. This family was moving to Texas and decided that they were not going to take Sky with them. They called Wolf on New Year’s Day, 1998, asking if they could bring Sky to the Sanctuary. We worked out the logistics at the Sanctuary and contacted the family the very next day to let them know, yes, we could accept Sky.

Apparently something had changed for them and they told us something that makes the hair stand up on the back of every animal lover’s neck. “We do not have enough time to drive him up there, so we’re just going to have him euthanized.” This was not acceptable and arrangements were made to pick up the seven month old puppy the next day.

Sky spent most of his years at Wolf grouped in a pack of three with Nugget and Ahzeem. Although he was much larger than the other two animals, he happily accepted his role in the pack as the omega, the lowest ranking wolf in the group. Sky was always one of the more timid wolves at the Sanctuary. It took a great deal of time and patience to earn his trust, but once you did, he was an absolute sweetheart.

Sky, like each of the animals at Wolf, had his personality quirks as an individual. He had a disdain for gloves and if you were wearing them near him, he would remove them for you. Once he decided you were appropriate for giving him attention, he would let you know with his foot, his massive foot, often down the middle of your back. But it was all out of love.

Nugget and Ahzeem were both older than Sky, and passed away before him. After Shaman’s passing, Sky and Isabeau came together as a pack. As did a new side of Sky, he became an alpha. To this day, Sky has been the only individual, two legged or four, who Isabeau showed full respect to. We don’t know quite how he did it and he didn’t share his secrets, but we are happy he spent his last months as the boss. He certainly deserved it and accomplished it so effortlessly you would never have known that he had always been the omega.

In Memory of Luna

Luna was part of the group that came to Wolf from the Wisconsin rescue in 2006. Originally her name was Skitty, or possibly Seltcha, the documentation was so poor that we are not really sure, but Skitty was a name unbefitting of a wolf.

Luna came to Wolf from circumstances that even we found shocking. She was at a back-yard breeder’s facility and likely spent her entire life there on a 10 foot long chain. The woman who owned the place had become very ill, to the point of not being able to take care of her self, let alone the animals in her care, and no one knew. After the woman was discovered by a friend and taken to the hospital, the rescue effort for the animals began.

No one knows just how long they went with out food and water, all of them were malnourished and dehydrated, and a few of them didn’t make it.

Luna however, was a fighter, perhaps she knew what lay in store for her. Once she came into Wolf’s care without a chain or a tiny cage, Luna quickly adjusted to a level of freedom she had never before experienced. She beat the odds over heartworm and we discovered a wolf who was full of life and independence. When it came to getting your hands on her for medical exams, Luna was a force of nature to be reckoned with. She laid claim to her habitat and kept the neighboring animals informed that it was in fact, hers.

In January, Luna began limping on her front leg. Her limp slowly got worse and was diagnosed as a nerve root tumor. A progressive nerve growth that will spread throughout the body. Amputation of the leg might cure the problem if caught in time, however most likely it would only slow the progression of the disease. It was decided the trauma and recovery time for Luna was not worth the potentially short amount of time the amputation would buy. Over the following months, we kept her comfortable with medication. She adapted very well to getting around in her habitat with less strength in one front leg and her spirit never dampened.