Meet Our Director

I grew up an animal lover. Fortunately, for most of my life I have had the opportunity to be around hundreds of animals, both wild and domestic, of all shapes, sizes and temperments. Most animal lovers are a little eccentric, deranged or even a little nuts. I am no exception, and in fact, am quite possibly all of the above. Of course, that is probably why I have given up the "normal life" to live in the woods on the edge of nowhere - you can see the middle of nowhere from here - with my wife and small child. We live without electricity or running water in a small (really small) two room log house. We chop wood for heat, haul water for showers and cooking, trudge through mud and snow, all while earning less than minimum wage. For what? So I can help a few wolves out of bad situations and teach people that wild animals are not pets.

For those of you who don't know me, allow me to introduce myself: My name is Leyton Cougar, and I am the Director of Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary.

For the past ten years, I have been working at Wild Spirit to help provide a permanent and safer place for captive-bred wolves and wolf-dogs in need of Sanctuary.

During roughly seven of the years I've spent at the Sanctuary, I've been the Lead Volunteer, Education Director, Animal Care Supervisor, Maintenance Man, Tour Guide, Fence-Builder, Pooper-scooper-animal-feeder, Vet Tech, Volunteer Coordinator, and any other job that was thrown at me. By 2003, both of our founders, Jacque Evans and Barbara Berge had retired from the Sanctuary. At that point, in October 2003, I put on another hat and took the responsibility of Executive Director.

Throughout the years, we have made many great changes to our Sanctuary, but our mission remains the same: Rescue, Sanctuary, and Education. It is my personal goal to fulfill that mission to the utmost degree. I have a deeply embedded passion for wolves. This includes all wolves, wild or captive. I am most passionate, though, about those wolves that are bred by humans and all too often left with no hope for escape from the torment of environments in which they are held captive.

I can tell you with great certainty that few of the animals at our Sanctuary have come from pleasant environments. Most have come from horrific situations that would infuriate you. We turn away animals almost daily at Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. It's not just wolves, either; some people, out of desperation, call us to see if we can take their coyote, fox, monkey, or bear!

This is an epidemic. Wild animals are in back yards, basements, garages and in condos all across the nation. Some are kept by people with good intentions but no experience. Some are are kept by people with no good intentions and no experience. All types of people with varying levels of experience and knowledge house wild animals; all too often, it ends in trouble for the animal.

To me, the bottom line is this: America needs rescues as well as permanent, peaceful, safe sanctuaries for its suffering, captive-wild animal population. More than anything, though, it needs better wildlife education.

So why do I live in a cabin on the edge of nowhere? Because my passion and my commitment is to the wolves of Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and to educating the world about our mission and our work.