• Goodbye Iowa Brutus
• Please Welcome Zoerro!

• New pages on the website
• Winter Volunteers

Everyone has been keeping plenty busy at the Sanctuary. Luckily, this is the largest crew of volunteers we have ever had for November, which means we are able to keep up on the large donations of meat coming from hunting season. Between the scrap meat and road kill elk we have been receiving, all our wolves are eating well and have full bellies!

I apologize for not keeping up on the website, but our Howl-o-Ween party (which was a great success!) and the Weems International Artfest has kept me on other projects. However, I was able to add new content this week, so please check it out:

• The Online Gift Shop has some brand new items for you to purchase! We now have a large collection of adult t-shirts to browse through, as well as new plushies. We will be putting up jewelry items soon, so please check back.
• Wild Spirit Christmas Cards are now on sale! We are having a great deal with some of our cards 30% off from last year. If you order after December 10th, all cards will have a 50% discount! Stock up for Christmas cards next year!
• Photos from our autumn enrichment Pumpkin Toss are now in the Photo Gallery section of the website.
• Finally, Wild Spirit is always striving to make itself better and you can help! We have a General Survey we are hoping our supporters can take. It will give us valuable feedback on how to better improve the Sanctuary.

From spring to autumn, we have dozens of volunteer applications drift through our mailbox and inboxes. As soon as it approaches winter, they all stop. Volunteering at Wild Spirit in winter is difficult - harsh weather and freezing temperatures are not easy to work in. What people neglect to envision are cozy fires, wolves romping through snow drifts, and laughter in the volunteer kitchen. What I'm trying to say is we are looking for a few more volunteers to join us in January until the end of winter. One of our accepted applicants cancelled, and we would love to have one or two more volunteers to help us out. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please forward this on and direct them to our Volunteer page of the website. Winter is my favorite time of year at the Sanctuary and we're sure you will never forget the experience.

Goodbye Iowa Brutus

We sadly bid farewell to Iowa Brutus who passed way in October. Iowa Brutus arrived to Wild Spirit with his two siblings, Akela and Navar. They originally belonged to the Fejervary Children's Zoo in Davenport, Iowa, but the century-old zoo was having difficulty with funding and community support. In addition, the two sisters were beginning to get into more severe arguments. Wild Spirit agreed to take the animals, and Iowa Brutus and family were brought to our facility. Iowa Brutus was the most social of his siblings and would be the first to greet his caretaker in the morning. He had a routine he would show with new volunteers - Iowa Brutus would come close for an inner-thigh rub, but would remain just far enough out of reach of the new volunteer's hand. The volunteer would try to inch closer, but Iowa Brutus would just scoot an inch back while still displaying his leg for an inner thigh rub. Finally, after a few minutes of this, Brutus would come over for some attention. Iowa Brutus was a favorite amongst volunteers due to his odd quirks yet lovable personality.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than an animal suffering through a long-drawn death. Due to the discomfort an animal may be feeling, we always pray for a quick passing; if that is not possible, we typically intervene. Iowa Brutus' death was incredibly quick and unexpected. He was spotted pacing the fenceline during our morning feed, but after feeding a few of the animals, the volunteers headed towards Iowa Trio and saw Brutus unmoving on the ground. He passed away during the fifteen minutes between being seen and getting his turn to be fed. His death was so shocking that he was brought in for a necropsy; however, the vet doing the procedure found nothing abnormal and believed it was just Iowa Brutus' time to go. We are distraught over Iowa Brutus' passing, but take solace that his death was quick and painless.

We want to thank everyone who supported Iowa Brutus' during his stay with us at the Sanctuary. Although Iowa Brutus never quite got the hang of enrichment treats, I think he enjoyed himself nonetheless. We also want to thank Nicole, a volunteer who worked with Iowa Brutus and helped him to become the social animal we will remember him as.

We will miss you, Brutus.

Welcome to the family, Zoerro!

Please welcome the newest member to our family, Zoerro. The story start with Rory, who needed a companion for his white German shepherd after his black German shepherd passed away. A friend suggested that Rory purchase a wolf-dog instead of buying a $1,800 German shepherd. Rory found a litter and drove out to pick up a male. He chose the largest male who also appeared the most skittish and named him Zoerro. When Rory picked him up to take him home, Zoerro defended himself, which was Rory's first sign that things would be different than raising a domestic dog. Over the next eighteen months, the two began bonding, although there was a fair share of challenging moments. Around the age where Rory began thinking that Zoerro would calm down, the wolf-dog actually showed more wild characteristics. The fact that Zoerro was still unable to urinate or take breaks away from home put Rory through incredible stress, as well as the fact that at sixteen-months old, Rory could still not bring Zoerro inside without Zoerro wanting to destroy the house. Finally, after witnessing other people doing irresponsible behaviors around Zoerro, Rory realized it was only a matter of time before Zoerro was in a situation where someone wanted to take him away, euthanize him, or both. Rory browsed through the internet for rescues and found Wild Spirit. After reviewing the website, numerous conversations, and a couple of emails, Rory decided that Wild Spirit presented the best possibility for a full and happy life for Zoerro.

We have a lot of owners who promise to support their animal once they come to stay with us at the Sanctuary. A few keep true with their promise, but many do not. Rory has proven to be an incredible example of the bonding people can feel with these animals. Rory remained with Zoerro for a few weeks after arriving to drop him off to help build a cave house in Zoerro's new enclosure. Even before Rory left, he began thinking if it would be possible for him to stay and work with us at the Sanctuary. Once returning to his home in Washington, Rory made up his mind and it wasn't long until he was back in New Mexico. Now, Rory is a full-time volunteer working at Wild Spirit to help us with our mission, as well as remain active in Zoerro's life.

Zoerro lives with Contessa, one of our older animals at the Sanctuary. The relationship between the two animals started off rocky, but now they run and frolic through the enclosure together. Zoerro is quite the social boy, but there is no doubt that his strongest relationship is still with Rory. Zoerro has also proven to be somewhat food aggressive, leaving us to come up with new ways to ensure Contessa gets her food.

For more information about Zoerro, be sure to check out his Animal page on the website. Zoerro is up for sponsorship, so please be sure to consider supporting him. But be careful! He has the tendency to steal your heart away.