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Adama:
Adama is one of our older animals at the refuge. He was born in 1999 and
came to Wolfwood Feb. 2005 very thin and "shell-shocked from his
previous experiences. He is named after the volunteer, Adam, who helped rescue
him up in Denver. Adama is very sweet and will let you pet him all day until you give him his
food; Then he prefers to just eat to his
heart's content. He lived with Misty until her passing in 2013 and
currently lives alone.
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Akayla:
Akayla is Trinity's twin sister, and also sister to Rowen. She came to
Wolfwood shortly after Trinity in January of 2009. Akayla had been
severely abused; her front legs had substantial damage done to them and both needed to be in
casts for 6 months. Due to Joel's excellent care, she did not require
the extensive surgery the vets thought she might need. She is now fully healed and is slowly becoming less shy. She lives with Sable and has grown to be quite sociable with his companionship.
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Aspen:
Aspen is a young, rowdy animal. She came to Wolfwood in 2009 at
the age of 3 months after a court battle with the puppy mill where she
was born. While she is not
aggressive and can be handled by anyone, she still has her puppy
energy and likes to play rough. Aspen lives with Avalanche and
Mojo.
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Athena:
Athena is a small malamute mix dog. She came to Wolfwood in April of
2011 from Aztec N.M. when the shelter could not get her adopted. She
is sweet and gentle with people and is very playful. Because of
her personality, all the volunteers have fallen in love with her. We
hope to find her a home where she will be loved and get lots of
attention. In the meantime, she is safe and happy here at WolfWood.
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Avalanche:
Avalanche is a very friendly Malamute mix who was born in 2005. She
initially had been adopted but, due to a divorce, her owner couldn't
keep her and she returned to Wolfwood in 2009. She is a dominate animal
and prefers male pen mates. She lives with Mojo and Aspen and is
the boss of the enclosure. When meat is given out she makes sure
she has first choice of the food although she will share once she has
made her selection.
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Bo:
Bo came to Wolfwood as an 8 year old male during April of 2012. He
came from Sedona and had
lived with the same family his whole life. When they had to move, they
could not build Bo an escape-proof fence and he had been running loose
for almost a year. He hung
around his family, but eventually got in trouble and had to come to
WolfWood. They have
been connected to WolfWood for a number of years, so we made a home for
Bo here. He is shy and does not like people much, but he is safe and
sound.
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Chica:
Chica is the newest animal at WolfWood. She came from the same bad
breeding situation that Destiny did. She is 9 months old and a pretty
little girl. She is a very low percentage wolf/dog, but because of her
terrible background she is not very social. We put her in with Smokey and Topaz. Smokey is only 3
and Topaz is 15, so
Chica will be able to be Smokey's companion for a long time. All 3 are
getting along well, and Chica is happy to run and play.
(click on the picture to get a larger image of a different picture in a new window)
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Cinder:
Cinder is a dog. She was a stray that was picked up by the humane
society. Cinder unfortunately had a deformed leg that was damaged when
it was caught in an old trap. Solely because of her leg, nobody wanted
to adopt Cinder, so we took her in.
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Destiny:
Destiny is our resident bundle of energy. She came to Wolfwood May of 2012 just a few hours before we lost our
beloved Tonka. She got her name because fate seems to have made it
her destiny to fill the void left by Tonka's departure even before we
knew it would happen. Destiny came from people who have many wolves and wolfdogs on chains and running loose getting in trouble. They had a litter and didn't even know it, so those animals are feral and causing trouble. All of Destiny's littermates were sold at 4 weeks of age. Because
she had a bad eye they, took her to the Durango animal shelter where the wonderful staff there took her in, gave Destiny her first shots, and called us. She is
was very small, but just a sweetheart. We took her to Dr. Wagner who operated on her
eye and was able to save her vision. The circle of life is always ongoing here at WolfWood.
Destiny lived with Odin until he needed surgery and required peace and
quiet to recover. She now lives with Ipo who can match her energy
level.
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Druid:
Druid is Vesta's son and the brother of Tj and Sable. He is a full
dog. He came to the refuge in 2008 from Walsenburg, Co. with
Vesta as one of her nine puppies.
They were in a very bad situation and Vesta was starving and too weak to
get up and walk around. She was a good mother but without
nutrition, the future of Vesta and her pups was bleak While most of her pups
have been adopted, Druid, TJ, Sable and Vesta still enjoy life at
Wolfwood. Druid is much shyer than his siblings and tends to avoid
people.
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Ghost:
Ghost lives an extremely happy life with his best friend, Rukai. He took
almost 9 months before he would let anyone touch him. His one 'request'
was that he wanted a pen built behind the house so he could see his
"mom" (Paula) at all times. (He refused to stop crying when we
gave him a pen else where).
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Inepae:
Inepae is one of the happiest animals here at the refuge. He came to
Wolfwood in
2005 as a 4-year old. When Inepae first came to us he would nip at everything and everybody.
He had been kept on a chain his whole life and did not know how to interact at
all. It took quite a long time, but he finally learned to settle down and not use his mouth to get attention.
He loves to be petted and lean into his
friends. Inepae lived with Anis these past few years, until she passed away.
He then lived with Ipo but her puppy energy was a bit too much for
him. He now lives the bachelor life and is quite content. He has an eye disease common to German Shepherds, so he has a hard time seeing when someone comes to his fence. In spite of his difficult past and physical disability, he has a joyful and playful personality.
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Ipo:
Ipo came to Wolfwood in April of 2012 as a 12 week old, little female.
She is
very sweet and extremely shy. She was
in the Aztec NM shelter when they contacted us. We agreed to take her, but she developed a respiratory
infection and it took a while to get better. When
she got better she came to live with us. She was only 3 months old and
very scared. She has really grown and lived with Inepae, who was excited
at first, but soon Ipo's puppy energy was more than he bargained
for! She now lives with Destiny. She still is shy with
people and will hide in her house sometimes, but that's ok. We are
patient and just glad she is safe.
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Johnny:
Johnny and his brother Essa came to us in February of
2001 from animal control in Idaho. Essa passed away leaving Johnny
alone. When Johnny came to us he was unsocialized and has retained
those characteristics. He barks a lot and does not like people
touching him. He is afraid of strangers and is also afraid of thunder.
He lived with Ateira until Ateira's passing in 2012 and now lives with
Tika. Since Tika likes to bark a lot too, they can bark at each
other as much as they like. It is definitely the noisiest
enclosure at the Refuge.
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Juno:
Juno is a mid to low percentage wolf/dog. When she came
to us she had just had pups, but they were not with her. Shortly after
her arrival, we got a call from a woman claiming to have a litter of
"Mexican red wolves." We assured her there was no such thing,
but she insisted. Of course the group did not have an ounce of wolf in
them, but we agreed to take them out of their bad situation and brought
them home for Juno to foster. She was a great mom and we found homes for
all the puppies with the help of the La Plata Humane Society, except
Siren, who we kept to be Juno's pen mate. Rowan is the third
member of this playful pen.
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Kewa:
Kewa is Skyla's son. Skyla and Kewa came from Best Friends in Utah.
Their owner died suddenly and they were left alone. They stayed at
Best Friends for several months and then were brought to Wolfwood in
2004 thanks to funding for their enclosure and the dedication of Best
Friends. Kewa is not quite as friendly as his mother, but will come up to people he knows. He likes to act tough when there is a large group of people nearby and bark a lot, but he wouldn't hurt a fly.
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Kohl:
Kohl is a dog and was one of eight in a litter at the LaPlata Humane Society.
He came to Wolfwood in 2006 to be a companion to Tonka who was grieving
and howling after her brother, Buddy, died. He is a calm, affectionate
animal who has adjusted very well to Wolfwood and provided Tonka with the
company she needed until her death in 2012. He thinks he is a guard dog and barks when he sees strangers, but is
sweet
and can be handled by anyone. We are trying different pairings with Kohl
to see which residents would be a good fit for him but Kohl doesn't have
much patience for the puppy energy of some of our younger residents such
as Destiny. Older, more mature residents may be better suited for
him..
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Lakota:
Lakota started off a little shy around people but hated to be by himself. He was healing from a flipped stomach the same time we
received Tavi who was
equally under the weather. They healed together and are now best friends. Lakota
has also gotten much more sociable with people. He'll still walk up behind
people and poke them with his nose, but now he is no longer afraid to be petted
afterwards.
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Little Timber:
Little Timber came to Wolfwood in 2002 from a private party in Virginia. He lives with Minnie.
He is a dominant animal who gets along well with Craig and Paula but does not approach strangers.
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Majesty:
Majesty came to the refuge in April of 2012 as a 2 year-old
female. She had spent her first two years on a chain, tied to
fences, bumpers, whatever was handy. Her owners moved to a house where
they could not keep her. They took her to be boarded and then called
us. She still has the marks around her neck from the chains and it
will take a lot of work and patience for her to ever be close to a
normal animal. She loves people and wants lots of attention, but she is extremely food aggressive and
will growl and snap if challenged. It is a real shame because she
is beautiful and intelligent, and damaged.
We hope to balance out the two polar opposite sides of her personality by offering her love and
boundaries. We will do our best, as always. She lives next to Razi and will never be on a chain again.
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Minnie:
Minnie came to the refuge as a 2-year old from Utah in February of 2005.
She is very shy and does not want to be petted. She was named
Minnie because when she arrived she was very small and thin. Since
that time, the name has become much less fitting since a proper diet and
endless exercise have allowed her to grow to her full size. Minnie
lives with Little Timber (who is also shy around people).
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Mojo:
Mojo was a runaway who came from the Durango shelter in 2008 as a 5-year old adult. He is an escape artist and is shy but very loving. Mojo lost two close friends the past couple of years with the passing of Bronte and Cassidy. He needed other canine companionship and has formed new bonds with his pen mates, Aspen and
Avalanche. He loves Joel and will socialize to anyone if they are patient.
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Nakomo:
Nakomo is one of our high percentage wolves. We first received his father and him after they broke out of their cage, having been starving for two weeks when their previous owner abandoned them.
His ex owner had 6 wolves and used some of them in movie work. He left
the animals with no one to take care of them. After a couple of weeks
the wolves finally broke out of their pen. Unfortunately 4 of them were
shot, but Nokomo and his father were captured and flown into Durango
airport in a Cessna, where we picked them up. Nokomo has always been
food aggressive because he starved for so long. His father, Shilo, died
at the age of fifteen and Nokomo had been very depressed after that. He
was alone and unhappy, which is why we put him in with Nova. We
expected this attempt to be especially difficult because they are both
large, powerful dominant animals. As usual, the wolves had their own
ideas about how things should go, and with very little drama, Nova and
Nokomo are now a happy couple.
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Nova:
Nova is our resident Diva. She is 6 years younger than her packmate,
Nokomo. She is strong and smart, beautiful and willful. In other words,
Nokomo met his match! She came to us from a local owner who could not
keep her. She was loved, but her situation was no longer
tolerable. The fact that Nova and Nokomo are happily living
together is a testament to the patience and dedication of the people at
Wolfwood. Even more than that, it is a testament to the resiliency and
ability for recovery that these amazing animals are capable of.
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Odin:
Odin arrived at the Refuge late April of 2012 from Albuquerque
NM. He was rescued by Tom, who is one of our regular volunteers.
He saw Odin's plight and wanted to help. The young couple who had him
could not care for him properly and Odin was very emaciated with a
terrible coat. Tom convinced the couple to turn him over to
WolfWood and brought him here. Dr. Wagner found a mass in his
intestine but Odin was in no shape for surgery. We put a few pounds on
him and got him settled in. Then Dr. Wagner removed the mass,
neutered him and checked his tear ducts, which are congenitally closed. Since Odin came to the refuge
he has regained his full weight and his fur is soft and shiny. He
has made a great recovery, but, one of the tumors was found to be
cancerous. When you approach Odin, he acts
like a perfect gentleman and he will gently walk up to meet you to
say hello. He likes to be petted and is
very calm and friendly around everyone. Odin was the surrogate dad for Destiny as he
could handle her puppy
energy but still teach her about behavior limits. But surgery
meant Odin needed peace and quiet so he now lives alone. He has
quietly become a favorite of several volunteers.
(click on the picture to get a larger image in a new window)
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Orley:
Orley was born in 2007 and came to the Refuge from the
Ute reservation early in 2009 as a very nervous young adult. He would
constantly run in circles almost non-stop. He has made significant
progress since then and no longer has his nervous habit. However,
he is still very shy and timid and does not like to be touched. He
likes to sit on top of his shelter surrounded by tree branches that
partially obscure him. He lives with Siku.
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Pan and Echo:
Pan and Echo were at a humane society and were scheduled to be euthanized the day that we picked them up. They are both very sweet and playful. They love any and all attention that they can get.
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Phedra:
Phedra is a high percentage wolf that came to Wolfwood, with Atlas, in the summer of 2004 from Gunnison, Co. They were found starving when they were caught by animal control. She was born in 2000 and lived with Atlas until his death in 2012. She currently lives
with Bo in one of the Refuge's largest enclosures so she is free to stretch her legs as much as she
likes
Phedra is a bit skeptical when you first go into her enclosure, especially if she's concerned about guarding her food. However, once she realizes you're a friend and you sit down, she is happy to give you a friendly wolf rub that will push you over if you're not expecting it.
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Razi:
This
is Razi. He came from northern Colorado in April of 2012 at the age of
2. His owner
moved and could not keep him so he took Razi to a vet to be put down.
Instead, the staff at the vet's office worked hard to find
WolfWood and get Razi here. They transported him to us and even gave us
a donation for his care. He prefers men over woman and likes Joel,
Ben and Paula's dad. He will lie next to them and even bump them with
his nose, but he does not want to be petted and definitely does not want
to be leashed. We are confident he will settle in and appreciate his new, safe
home and large, secure enclosure. He will be moved in with another
wolf when a large escape-proof pen opens up. For now he lives next to
Majesty.
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Ria:
Ria was born in 2001 and came to Wolfwood in 2004. Her previous owners were involved in a divorce dispute and abandoned her in Pahrump,
NV. She was found but was about to be put down when an email was sent to Wolfwood describing her plight. Craig went to get her and she found a new home at the Refuge. She is a beautiful animal and is very shy. She will not approach you but will not run to hide from you either. She
lived with Big Timber until his passing in 2013. She now lives
with Ranger who also lost his mate in 2013. Ria has assumed her normal position of hiding behind her
"man" and sleeps shoulder to shoulder with Ranger. She
seems to enjoy her new pen at the top of the hill where both of them can
watch everything that is going on!
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Rowan:
Rowan came to us from Pueblo, the same shelter where we
got his sisters, Akayla and Trinity. He might have a bit more dog in him though as indicated by his flopped ear and size.
Rowan has been a challenge to get a picture of because he's very shy initially and will choose to peek out at you from
behind trees. However, once he decides that he likes you, he sits right on top of your feet and is extremely affectionate.
Despite being very large, he was lonely and skittish when
he came, bonding to only a few people. We decided to see if the girls,
Juno and Siren, liked him and they did! It is such a unique
combination of sizes, percentages and personalities, yet they find a way
to make it all work. Even though Rowan is the biggest one in his pen (he
still lives with Juno and Siren) he lets the youngest,
and littlest, penmate (Siren) boss him around.
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Rufio:
Rufio is one of our low percentage wolf animals. He came to us
from the Jicarilla-Apache Reservation in October of 2001 at the request
of the Pagosa Springs Humane Society. He was rescued after being starved
for several days and was found laying in a small kennel with no water or food next to a dead dog. This understandably put
him in a very bad mood and we had to use a bite suit and 5 hours of effort to transfer him into the
truck and into his pen. It took a while, and lots of patience, but Rufio has done a complete 180 since then, and is now
strong and healthy. He likes his pen, but he refuses to live with anyone
else. While he loves his human visitors, he can be shy around men
he doesn't know. Rufio is
also one of our best diggers, and has dug one of his dens at least five feet deep.
He is a true success story for Wolfwood.
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Rukai:
Rukai was rescued after living in 5 different homes within a year. He is now quite happy living at the refuge with his best friend Ghost. Rukai loves to just run and play. He also loves to show off how he can jump on his dog house in a single bound. Rukai is extremely affectionate with us but due to his past he is afraid of children and new places.
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Sable:
Sable is Vesta's son and the brother of Tj and Druid. He is a full
dog. He came to the
Refuge in 2008 from Walsenburg, Co. with
Vesta as one of her nine puppies.
They were in a very bad situation and Vesta was starving and too weak to
get up and walk around. She was a good mother but without
nutrition, the future of Vesta and her pups was bleak Sable
was one of the pups that was adopted after everyone got healthy and he
went to a good home with a loving owner. Unfortunately, his owner
fell on hard economic times and could not keep Sable anymore. He
brought Sable back to the Refuge, as is our policy when things like this
happen, and we welcomed him back. Sable is very friendly and lives
with his best friend, Akayla.
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Sawyer:
Sawyer is a dog. He lived with Reddog until Reddog passed away early in
2012. He initially came to the refuge when he
was a puppy but we took him to the Humane Society so he could get adopted.
Sawyer however, decided he didn't want to live at the humane society or a home
and tossed a fit. He came back to the refuge and has been happy ever since.
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Siku:
Siku came to Wolfwood during March, 2009 from Farmington, NM as a
one-year old. Her owner had to move due to his job and couldn't
keep her. She prefers female company but she seems to like Orley
(a male). She is a shy, submissive animal and will allow you to approach
her if she likes you.
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Siren:
Siren is a dog. She came
to us when we got a call from a person claiming to have a litter of
"Mexican red wolves." We assured her there was no such thing,
but she insisted. Of course the group did not have an ounce of wolf in
them, but we agreed to take them out of their bad situation and brought
them home for one of our other wolves, Juno, to foster. We found homes for
all the puppies with the help of the La Plata Humane Society, except
Siren, who we kept to be Juno's pen mate. Rowan is the third
member of this playful pen.
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Skyla:
Skyla lives with her son Kewa. She's very friendly, she will practically bathe you with kisses.
Skyla and Kewa came from Best Friends in Utah. Their owner died
suddenly and they were left alone. They stayed at Best Friends for
several months and then were brought to Wolfwood in 2004 thanks to
funding for their enclosure and the dedication of Best Friends.
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Smokey:
Smokey came to the refuge when he was a puppy. His owner had dropped him off at a humane society and left no information about
him other than to say he was a German Shepherd. As he grew, it became obvious that he was not a
German Shepherd. The humane society gave us a call saying they had a
wolfdog and we picked him up. He is very shy around people and lives with
Topaz and the newest member of Wolfwood, Chica..
(click on the picture to get a larger image in a new window)
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Storm:
Storm came to the refuge as a 2-year old in 2009 from the Aztec Animal
Shelter. He likes to bark but is very sweet. He is quite
active and can be a real challenge to catch.
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Tacoma:
Tacoma came to us in June of 2003 from a private party in Farmington,
NM. He is playful, but shy until he gets to know you.
He gets along well with people and generally gets along with other
animals although he can be somewhat territorial around the shared fence
areas.
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Tavi:
Tavi is very skittish and lives with Lakota. She is not mean but does
not come up to anyone and prefers to just stay out of the way. She was
very sick and malnourished when she came to us and was nursed back to
health along with Lakota who came to us at about the same time. The two
are now healthy and inseparable.
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Tika:
Tika is a Husky mix that came to the Refuge in 2007 as a shy 2-year old from the Farmington Animal Shelter.
She has distinctive eyes in that one eye is a different color from the other.
She is very shy and her shyness makes it difficult to get a good picture of her.
If she is in her house, she will hide her face. If she is out and about she will move to different angles in the enclosure to try to see you from all angles.
She will not come up to people at the fence but likes to bark a lot at them (from a distance).
In general, she is not friendly with other animals but got along with
Nomad until his death in 2012. Tika now lives
with Johnny who also likes to bark a lot and they can bark at each other
as much as they like. It is definitely the noisiest enclosure at
the Refuge.
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Topaz:
Topaz was captured in northern Colorado and came to us in late 2000
through Table Mountain Rescue. He is a high percentage wolf and consequently tends to be very shy.
Topaz lives with Smokey and the newest member
of Wolfwood, Chica..
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Trucker:
Trucker is shy around people but loves to be around other animals. When he first
came to us, he had a nervous habit of running in circles constantly. He has
since broken that habit. Trucker lived with Bruno until Bruno's death in
2012. He will be paired with another wolf shortly since he loves
companionship.
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Vesta and TJ:
Vesta and TJ are both full dogs. Vesta
came to the refuge in 2008 from Walsenburg, Co. with her nine puppies.
They were in a very bad situation and Vesta was starving and too weak to
get up and walk around. She was a good mother but without
nutrition, the future of Vesta and her pups was bleak. She is now fully
recovered and all her pups survived due to her motherly instincts and a
bit of help from Wolfwood. While most of her pups
have been adopted, TJ, Druid and Sable still enjoy life with her
at Wolfwood. Vesta is in the foreground of this picture and TJ is
in the back.
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Zion:
Zion was born in 2000 and was running loose in Kankakee, Illinois.
Wolfdogs were illegal where he lived and he was not being cared for. He was rescued from
the kill shelter by a couple who nursed him back to health after his bout with heart-worm.
They then worked with us to get him to Wolfwood in March of 2004. The heart-worm did do some permanent damage and thus he is not the most active wolf. He is however, quite happy and always one of the
children's favorites when they visit the Refuge. They love him and
he returns their love. Zion was one of our traveling ambassadors
for many years and is now retired from that role.
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