Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of animal abuse.
IGNACIO – Eleven adult wolfdog hybrids and four wolfdog pups were introduced to their new forever home at Wolfwood Refuge in Ignacio on Saturday after they were rescued from squalid conditions at a fur and urine farm near Cleveland, Ohio, in December.
The wolfdogs’ new home is a remarkable improvement from the farm they were rescued from, where they and foxes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, coyotes and other wolfdogs lived and died while boxed in “filthy wire-bottom cages,” according to The Humane Society of the United States.
The Humane Society said in a news release over 250 animals were removed from Grand River Fur Exchange in Hartsgrove, Ohio, at the request of the Ashtabula County Commissioner’s office.
Wolfwood founder Paula Woerner, who along with a caretaker visited the farm for three days last week to rescue as many wolfdogs as they could manage, said 411 animals were found in “absolutely the worst condition.”
She has run her sanctuary for wolfdogs in La Plata County for 22 years. During her three-decade career, she has never seen worse conditions than those on the farm in Hartsgrove.
The animals were kept in wired pens lifted off the ground without straw bedding. When they urinated, the urine trickled through the wire gaps and down a chute to collect in a bucket, Woerner said, scrolling through pictures on her phone she took at the farm.
She said the urine was collected and sold for resale as bait; coyote urine is often sold as “humane” deer deterrent for home gardens – but people who buy and use such products need to be aware of where they come from.
“There were, you know, 96 coyotes and 90 foxes, and just this ridiculous amount of animals, and absolutely the most torturous conditions you can imagine,” she said.
Rickard said animal skulls were visible in some pens and carcasses were visible in others. She saw barrels full of animal corpses.
She and Woerner said the stench of death and decay was unbearable. They are shocked nobody noticed the rampant abuse sooner because the smell must have carried for miles.
The Humane Society said some animals were “missing toes, ears, tails and limbs.” Veterinarians determined they lost toes because of the cages’ wire flooring and lost limbs because of steel-jaw traps found about the property.
“Many were emaciated and severely dehydrated, and several animals were found deceased and covered in snow,” the Humane Society reported. “When responders arrived on the property, they found a coyote dying slowly, caught in a leghold trap.”
Grand River Fur Exchange owner Mark Gutman “dropped dead” outside the animal pens, Woerner said, calling it poetic. His death led to the discovery of the conditions at the farm.
Saturday was literally the deadline to find the animals shelter; Woerner said any animals not taken by that day would be euthanized.
“We loaded up 15 of them, 11 adults and four babies and wild spirits. Van-transported them back to Wolfwood. And so we have taken the most animals out of that situation,” she said. “Now the hard work begins of trying to rehabilitate them and get them healthy and give them a life that’s not torture.”
Rickard said she rode in the back of the van the whole 26-hour drive back to La Plata County to tend to the pups, that were not yet able to see or hear and required bottle feeding.
Woerner said her veterinarian went to the refuge after the rescued wolfdogs arrived to perform triage and determine which animals needed care most urgently. Woerner has begun taking the animals to the veterinarian’s office for more comprehensive care this week.
The wolfdogs will be quarantined in smaller enclosures for several weeks while they are spayed and neutered, vaccinated, and receive other treatment for their safety and the safety of other wolfdogs at Wolfwood before they are released into larger pens, she said.
One wolfdog has a tumor. Another one is blind, she said. Pending blood work and lab reports will help identify other health problems with the rescues.
“Then comes the socialization, getting them used to being around people that aren’t going to hurt them,” she said. “Allowing us to interact and all of that, and trying to keep them together in the groups that they came in, and then finding the right enclosures for them.”
It will require observation, assessment, planning and physical labor to reorganize the enclosures to best suit each wolfdog, she said.
The blind wolfdog, she said, can’t be kept in an enclosure with a lot of vegetation because it is prone to bump into tree trunks and get poked by branches.
“Each one has to be considered individually,” she said. “We’ll do what’s very best for (the) particular animal.”
Wolfwood is licensed by the state of Colorado and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to care for wolfdogs. It is home to 64 wolfdog hybrids, including the rescues taken in on Saturday, Woerner said. The refuge has been in the process of downsizing and the new animals scaled up its population by about one-third.
It’s located somewhere in the rocky, shrub-covered hills around Ignacio – the precise location is not publicly disclosed for the protection of the wolfdogs housed there.
Wolfdogs adopted by the refuge remain there for the rest of their natural lives. There are about 30 enclosures of varying sizes on 40 acres of woodland area, she said. Each wolfdog is placed in an enclosure designed for it. Elderly wolfdogs, for example, prefer smaller enclosures because they have less control over their environment in large, wide-open spaces.
“The trick is to be able to save animals and not harm the quality of life for the ones we have,” she said.
Rickard has worked with the refuge for the past nine years. She said it’s not uncommon for volunteers, interns, community service workers and visitors who meet the wolfdogs and see how they are cared for to say it’s life-changing.
The refuge has had an effect on the rural community of La Plata County, too. She said 20- and 30-year-olds grew up in the area.
“Wolfwood has made a big impact on a rural community that might have negative opinions about wolves,” she said. “Children now have been growing up here for 20 some years, almost 30 years, hearing a different story about wolves.”
She said the refuge has hopefully dampened stigma against wolves, while at the same time the number of wolfdogs kept as pets has diminished. She isn’t sure if that is just a “sign of the times,” but she likes to think education and firsthand experience at the refuge played a part.
Woerner said wolfdogs don’t often make good pets because each individual wolfdog has its own personality. They like to dig up yards to make dens and their temperaments are generally unpredictable.
It’s not that wolfdogs are more vicious than other canines. But people often misinterpret their behavior and the animals end up being abused.
“People need to understand you can't treat them like dogs. They're very different in their physical needs and their emotional needs and their mental needs,” she said.
Woerner said the rescued wolfdogs are adapting well. Day by day, they indicate they are a little more comfortable with their caregivers.
But caring for the new wolfdogs won’t be cheap. She said it will cost about $30,000 or $2,000 per animal just for spaying, neutering, vaccinations and screening. There’s no telling what other health issues could crop up down the road.
People interested in supporting Wolfwood Refuge can visit the sanctuary’s website and follow the donation link, she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
