CANIS DINGO
Kalo was way too young to have died. At a mere three and a half years, he had already achieved so much for his species. Kalo was a regular visitor to the sanctuary on Saturdays, where he would greet guests and show them how 
amazing and unique dingoes truly are and that they are really a quite social animal. Guests would be amazed at the physical flexibility and agility that he displayed. He was already a year old when he came to our Executive Director, Deanna Deppen, to be a companion to Lola Dingo. He immediately started training with her for Search and Rescue, but his specialty was article location and tracking/trailing aka “live find”. He took to the job like a champ and loved following the trail. His commitment to an article was 100% until that article was collected and then he’d go right back to tracking the person without missing a beat.
We had not progressed as a team to the point to test and become certified, but we have no doubt that he would have aced it! Kalo had stopped eating well and despite every effort to improve his appetite, he was not getting better. When he showed signs of dehydration as well, we took him in and x-rays led us to believe that he had eaten some type of object. Exploratory surgery was scheduled and we sadly learned that Kalo was suffering from advanced biliary cancer affecting the duodenum and already spreading to the lymph system. This was an inoperable cancer as that section of the intestine cannot be resected. The decision was made to not wake Kalo up and he passed peacefully on December 1, 2017. The void that has been left is indescribable, but we are grateful to have had Kalo in our lives for the brief time he was here. -Deanna Deppen
12/1/17
Kalo is Lola’s brother from the next year. His grandparents came over directly from Australia. Kalo’s father (Bear) was separated from his mother (Melbourne) by an 8’ fence during breeding season. That was not enough, however, to deter a dingo with only one thing on his mind!
Kalo was originally being fostered in South Carolina and started having problems with his male companion. That’s when we were contacted about the possibility of “fostering” him. Lola was in need of someone to keep her company during the day. We agreed that if they could arrange transport down we would foster, knowing it was unlikely he would ever be rehomed once he arrived.
Since his arrival, Kalo has really blossomed. We weren’t sure how he would be with strangers since he’d had a lot less socialization early on than Lola. Actually, Kalo is much more outgoing than his sister and seems to even be a social butterfly. He knows nothing about personal space bubbles and climbs right up in laps to give everyone kisses.
Dingoes are considered nuisance animals in Australia and are hunted, trapped, and poisoned. Many people are trying to change the common perception of these highly intelligent and independent animals, including Kalo & Lola. While Lola led the way in Search and Rescue by learning and becoming certified to be a Human Remains Detection dog, Kalo shows a natural talent for Tracking & Trailing. He really perks up when he finds a trail to follow!
