It is with great sadness we share the passing of our precious Julie. She was one of our shyer wolves, having come to us about 13 years ago at the age of one year. Julie was bought, used by an animal handler & dumped into rescue all by the time she was 8 months old. She and her sister were the byproducts of the “animal industry” and she forever carried the scars. Julie was always leery of men due to her early handling and showed that wolves can jump 10′ fences in a single bound when frightened.
She spent many years at Shy Wolf overcoming her anxiety and learning to trust again. Her faithful companions helped her mend and she loved them for that. Wenatchee and Chocowa and Tien all went ahead and we have no doubt greeted her upon her crossing. Our entire pack sounded off just as she was transitioning, even though she was at the vet’s and not on site…they knew and sent her on her way with loving howls.
06/07/17
We were contacted in 2005 to participate in Animal Planet’s “King of the Jungle” series filming in Florida. They wanted to hire a pair of grey wolves to use in the “reward” segment in which contestants got to meet an exotic animal.
We sent photos and agreed to take Tehya and Kamots, a pair of rescued animals we regularly used as ambassadors. They wanted their “trainer” to walk the animals out. We explained that our animals are people oriented and used to going out, but they would be in a strange situation with cameras and lights and would need our volunteers, whom they trusted. We were told that Animal Planet couldn’t commit to a “shooting schedule” and we were no longer needed.
Five months later we received a call from a Tim Rivers. He was very proud of the fact his animals were utilized in the shooting of “King of the Jungle”. He said he had purchased three females at three months of age to participate in the shooting. He wanted rescue to take two of the females, intact with no donations as the animals were costing him money, food, vet, fencing etc. He told us that he would give them to the first person that came along whether they were licensed or not, a requirement in Florida. We contacted another person who was rescuing animals and had room to accommodate the two girls. She went and got them immediately.
Julie wasn’t warming up to this woman, however, so it was decided that Shy Wolf Sanctuary would bring her down as a companion to Wenatchee, where we felt we had more volunteers to work with her and that she would be happy there. She did and has done quite well. Julie’s always been more afraid of men due to her early life experiences. Julie became so terrified of a male volunteer entering her enclosure that she literally jumped to the top of the 10’ fence! For this reason, Julie can only be in an enclosure on the property that has 3’ lean-ins or in a topped enclosure. Julie’s companion was Chocowa until he passed. Today she happily resides with Lakota, in an area that has heavy underbrush and she still runs and hides even though she’s been here for years.
