WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR
HELP!
Please
read the story below and make a donation today! ANY help you can give us
is greatly appreciated! NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL! Donation information
is provided for you at the end of this story.
***Breaking News From Wolf
***
***NAWA***
February 1, 2003
As I write this message Pat Wendland (Wolf), Cheryl Budler (Wolf) and Sue
Cranston (Indigo Mtn. Nature Center) are traveling to Texas to help with a
tragic situation.
NAWA (North American Wolf Association), a rescue/sanctuary in the Houston area
has been hit with an outbreak of canine distemper. Approximately 20
animals have died horribly from the disease. There are 20 wolves and
wolf-dogs that are still alive and the team from Wolf and Indigo Mountain are
going to help with medical procedures needed to ascertain the health of those
remaining and provide vaccinations. Due to the fact that many of the
animals are not social, they will have to be darted with a tranquilizer to
perform the necessary procedures. After tranquilization, blood will be
drawn for general blood tests and an immediate heart worm test. Based on
the results of these quick-response tests from Heska the animal will be treated
with Revolution (controls heartworm, round worm, hook worm, fleas, ticks, and
mites). They will then be vaccinated for rabies, distemper,
adenovirus, parvovirus, type 2 parainfluenza, coronavirus and bordatella.
At this point a general exam will also be performed. All of this will be
accomplished under the supervision of local veterinarians.
This situation has developed into a rather complicated and tenuous
predicament. Due to this specific event and other factors the guardianship
of the animals has been removed from the founder of NAWA and temporarily placed
under the care of another individual. That individual requested help from
a number of concerned organizations including Wolf. Wolf immediately
recommended a protocol for working with the animals that would help retard the
spread of the distemper and other diseases that might be present in the
area. Strict procedures were implemented dealing with food, water and
waste removal containers/tools, protective hand and foot gear as well as shoe
baths.
As it currently stands the future for these animals is fairly uncertain.
Although we are confident that the medical procedures will assure the recovery
and health of the animals, it turns out that the owner of the land where the
animals are located seems unwilling to sign a new lease or extension when the
current lease ends on February 17th. Technically the judge can assign
permanent custody of the animals after February 10th. That date is the end
of the time period that was allotted for the founder of NAWA to remedy a number
of legal issues. Those issues involve an outstanding personal injury
judgment in the amount of $220,000, back veterinary bills and back property
rents as well as securing a new facility with adequate containment and
utilities.
February 2, 2003:
We will keep you updated on these events as they transpire.
The current report from Texas is the proverbial 'good news/bad news'
scenario.
Pat Wendland (W.O.L.F.), Sue Cranston (Indigo Mtn. Nature Center) and Cheryl
Budler (W.O.L.F.) began their day yesterday very early and did not leave the ex-NAWA
facility until dark. When I spoke with Pat she was exhausted and I did not
want to keep her on the phone too long. So, although I do not have a great
deal of specifics on yesterdays events, I did want to disseminate what I did
find out.
A good deal of time was spent on setup of an exam area and arrangement of the
tools necessary to perform all of the tasks efficiently and effectively.
A quick visual inspection of the animals indicates that there may be other
problems associated with the health of the animals. We will get more
information on this as we receive more detailed information from the team and
the results of blood tests come back from the lab.
A total of nine animals were treated yesterday and the team was very optimistic
about being able to finish the initial procedures on the animals today.
Unfortunately, a snag occurred as there was no vet available for today.
The last time I spoke with Pat she was still trying to get a vet. If this
does not happen, the team will take the day off and wait for a vet to continue
tomorrow.
I'm sorry the details are available at this time, however we all need to be
patient and let the team do their jobs focussing on the animals as opposed to
keeping us informed.
I will send out more info as I get it.
February 3, 2003:
Sunday's events unfolded much later than was originally planned because a vet
could not be found to assist with the treatments. Although Cheryl Budler
from Wolf is a highly trained Vet Tech and is very experienced with wolves and
wolf-dogs, and Pat Wendland from Wolf has had 10 years of hands-on medical
assistance experience with wolves and wolf-dogs, "The Team" still
wanted the advice of a licensed veterinarian. (I guess they don't work on
Sundays). After an exhaustive search they were finally able to get a vet
to advise via cell phone. The symptoms were given to the vet verbally and
the vet gave verbal advice back.
"The Team" was only able to treat 5 animals on Sunday, because of this
delay. That brings the total treated to 14. They again had to stop
procedures as it grew dark. I was able to get more data from them,
however.
As more animals are treated, the picture of the situation/conditions at the
facility starts to become much clearer. I will try to give you as detailed
of a run-down as I was able to glean from "The Team". We did
receive some photos of the events and I am including some of them with this
report. If your computer has a problem with accepting these photos please
email me and I will send just the text.
As of the end of yesterday, they had treated a total of 14 animals. All
of them have problems and it appears that two are extreme. Whether these
problems are a result of weakened systems from the exposure to distemper or from
other factors is still unknown. More will be verified as the results from
the blood tests are received. The symptoms that are common to almost all
of the animals examined so far and that are causing concern; dehydration (which
makes it very difficult to draw blood), low body weights, and high
temperatures. It is suspected, based on a lot of stagnant water in the
enclosures (like the Donally Pack enclosure photo shown here) that they may have
giardia or some other water-born intestinal parasite. It is also suspected
that they are mal-nourished as well.
The way the statistics pan out for the 14 that have been treated:
Tranquilization - 4 by hand injection (social enough to accommodate), 9 by dart
(not social), 1 not tranquilized (suspected kidney problems precluded the use of
drugs - leashed and held down for the treatments).
Temperatures - 2 normal, 10 higher than normal and in the concern category,
2 extremely high at 105.7ºF.
Heartworm Test - 13
negative, 1 positive.
The 6 remaining animals, yet to be treated, are purportedly survivors of the
distemper virus. The Team has been told that they all had the disease and
survived.
February 4, 2003
Yesterday's events cleared up a few mysteries for "The
Team" working in Texas. They have been stumped as to the lack of
concern by local vets. Both W.O.L.F. and Indigo Mountain are
professionally managed organizations that believe in good relationships with all
of the folks that they deal with, including their vets. Evidently, that
was not the case with NAWA. The vets did not want to work with our team
because of past dealings with "wolf people". It appears that
their relationships with NAWA were not very professional. Therefore, they
wanted no part of anything related to NAWA.
After Pat was able to spend some time talking with one of them
it became radically clear that not all "wolf people" are flakes.
Dr. Heidi immediately changed her entire day's schedule and spent the day with
"The Team".
The final six animals were finished up yesterday and these were the results:
Temperatures:
1 at 107.2º
3 between 103.5º and 104.2º
2 had normal temps
Heartworm: All were negative
General Condition: All were dehydrated to varying degrees
Treatments Given: All had blood drawn
All were vaccinated
All were treated for parasites
All were given antibiotic injections
All had fecal samples taken
All had general exams
By dark "The Team" was exhausted, but feeling the exhilaration of
having completed the important first step in a long journey for these
animals. Their joy bubbled over into their conversations with me, on the
phone, that night. They had been to dinner and celebrated the occasion.
This morning they have a short break while they wait for all of the results of
the blood and fecal tests to be finished. Once those results are in step 2
will begin. Treatment protocol must be established for each animal.
They are hoping and praying that the ailments that exist can be treated more
easily than the procedures required in step 1. We will let you know as we
receive those results.
Current beliefs would dictate that all of these animals are going to require a
minimum of 90 days in isolation/quarantine in order to prevent the spread of any
"bugs" that are or might still be present in the animals. The
best place for this isolation to occur is somewhere far away from their current
environment. Accommodating that option is still a major source of concern.
Please send this message to everyone you can think of. As it currently
stands there are no good options as to permanent suitable accommodations for
these animals. It is imperative that they not go to any location where
there are other animals that may become infected. The ideal situation
would be virgin property close enough to an existing sanctuary that treatment
can continue efficiently, yet enough distance that infection possibilities would
be eliminated. Although we have discovered one such option, the additional
land would have to be purchased and enclosures built. As it currently
stands there are no funds available for this option.
February 5, 2003
Here we go again. All kinds of clichés enter my mind at
this stage of the game. "Good news, bad news". "Hurry
up and wait". "The watched pot doesn't boil". You get
the idea anyway.
Yesterday "The Team" was waiting for the results of all the tests
performed on the animals. Their desire was to set up the treatment
protocol for each animal with volunteers that will be caring for them, before
they left Texas. The initial indications were that all of the fecal exams
came back negative for giardia. Great news, right! Not necessarily -
if the dehydration and temperatures were not being caused by giardia - then
what?
OK, they would just have to wait for the results of the blood tests to get a
better understanding of the situation. As the lab proceeded to test the
blood it became apparent that this was not going to get accomplished soon.
It appears that they encountered problems with the blood itself. Evidently
the blood is so dehydrated that they are having difficulty getting enough serum
from the blood to do their tests. The lab is going to have to go through a
more elaborate process to get the blood tested. This could take as long as
4 to 5 days to accomplish.
The Team arranged with Dr. Heidi to train the volunteers on what was necessary,
if anything, to treat the animals and they headed out of town. I will
bring you more information about the test results as we receive them.
Alright, I know your thinking - job well-done the Team can head for home.
Wrong, as they were packing up and getting ready to head back to Colorado, they
received a plea for help from the Executive Director of TAOS (The Association of
Sanctuaries), Craig Brestrup. It appears that there are 15 wolves or
wolf-dogs in the San Antonio area that were abandoned by their owner and even
though neighbors were trying to provide care for the animals, they were afraid
of them. The question/plea "would the Team be willing to swing by San
Antonio to assess the situation and provide more specific information about the
animals." How could they say no?
So, as of this writing the Team is in San Antonio and preparing to get out to
the facility where the animals are located. I will bring you information
on this situation as I receive it.
"The Team" made it home to Colorado at about 10:30 pm on Thursday
February 6th. The 'stop-by' in San Antonio ended up being a bust.
The folks that were supposed to accompany The Team on to the property in order
to assess the abandoned animals, never showed. The property was fenced and
guarded by Dobermans, which prevented access to the other animals. The
Team waited for quite a while but was unsuccessful in getting anyone via cell
phone to show enough interest to come out.
February 8, 2003
The trip back to Colorado was fairly uneventful, outside of the weather slowing
them down and fatigue forcing them to stop again for the night. The
reunion that Pat & Cheryl received from the animals at Wolf was
tearful. Both ladies rejoiced at being able to hug healthy, happy
animals. As we started hearing the stories and reviewing some of the
photos taken at the facility, we are amazed that the remaining animals are alive
at all.
We now wait for all of the blood work to be analyzed and
comprehensive treatments to be established. The preliminary red flags
indicate what The Team already suspected from their exams. All the animals
are about 10 to 15 lbs. underweight, severely dehydrated, and suffering from
stress.
Timbre is suffering severe liver and kidney disease. The immediate
prognosis from the vets is extremely guarded. She will not be able to be
moved any great distances without serious complications from the trauma involved
with moving.
The requirements from the vet are to give all of the animals a chance to regain
their health before they are moved anywhere. They need to be rehydrated,
gain weight, and given time for the antibiotics, which are continuing to be
administered, a chance to work.
This process may take from 2 to 8 weeks to insure the health of
each animal. The other factor that this will insure is that indeed the
remaining animals will not have developed distemper. One of our vets did
some extensive research on distemper and it appears that "in some cases it
can hang on for months and then break with symptoms."
This is the last thing that anyone wants to have happen.
There are still no firm alternatives for permanent suitable homes for these
animals. As we get more results on the analysis of the blood tests and
options on permanent sanctuary we will send further updates.
Please continue to send these updates to everyone you know. Our tab so
far, just for the trip to Texas and those treatments, is at $ 8,455 and
counting. In order to continue to help these animals we need to find
some significant dollars. Thank you.
February 12, 2003
The treatment plans have been developed for all of the
animals. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the last update four of the
blood samples had been frozen due to poor handling, rendering them
unusable. We have set up a treatment plan for these four animals based on
the physical exams that they were given and will seek to draw blood again.
Additionally, 7 other animals will need new blood tests, as well, due to either
poor serum levels in the samples already extracted or for additional information
on their conditions.
Outside of a few animals that have very specific problems, the majority of the
treatment plans revolve around four basic problems.
High Temperatures - some undiagnosed infection requiring antibiotics.
Dehydration - most likely from severe diarrhea requiring electrolytes in the
very severe cases.
High Eosinophils - most likely from some undiagnosed parasite requiring regular
doses of parasiticides.
Low Red Blood Cell Counts - most likely from poor diets requiring red meat and
bone.
The breakdown of the treatments is as follows:
7 antibiotics - for severe temperatures.
2 pedialyte supplements - for severe dehydration.
9 parasiticides.
1 lasix - for a congestive heart problem.
1 Rimadyl - for hip dysplasia.
1 milk thistle - for liver problems.
1 calcium supplement - for severe red blood cell problems.
1 mineral oil - for constipation.
10 anti-oxidant with glucosamine - for joint problems.
20 lysine (anti-oxidant) - to build immune systems.
20 multi-vitamin supplements - to aid recovery.
20 good red meat/bone diet.
All of the animals are starting to respond to the original
treatments and the introduction of quality food. Volunteers have noticed
marked improvement in all of them. Although everyone is anxious to get the
animals moved to larger enclosures and bug-free soil, this part of the recovery
phase is very important. It is anticipated that this phase will require
two to four weeks in order to insure that all of the animals will be healthy
enough to be moved. We will continue to bring you updates of this
situation as new information becomes available.
Please continue to send these updates to everyone you know. Thank you.
February 21, 2003
The animals are being treated and responding to all that has
been done so far. As they regain their health and put on some very
necessary pounds, the vet is beginning to release some of the animals that homes
have been found for. Timbre and Wacipi were moved today to a facility that
already has a USDA license and has been inspected by county animal control
officers. Both county animal control and the USDA inspector were on hand
for the move of both animals. They did fine with their trip and are
already acclimating to their new home. We wish them and their new
guardians tremendous success.
The way it currently stands - all but 8 of the animals have been scheduled with
at least temporary accommodations. The organizations that are helping with
this effort are busy getting their new enclosures set up.
Wolf has successfully negotiated an arrangement with a sanctuary in Texas to use
some of their land to build 4 half-acre enclosures for the remaining 8 animals
and potentially 2 additional enclosures for two of the other groups of animals
that may need permanent sanctuary as well. This sanctuary is a large
facility with all of the appropriate precursors in place, such as: licensing,
accreditation from a national sanctuary association, volunteer organization,
proven management, etc. The 6 enclosures will be built in 4 phases, in
order to get the 8 animals moved as soon as possible.
Phase one will consist of building the front portions of 4 of
the enclosures as well as the perimeter fence for all 6 enclosures. That
will make the initial portion 50' x 150'. Once phase one is complete the
animals will be moved to the new location. Phase one is estimated to cost
$13,000 for materials and we are hoping to get volunteers to accomplish the
labor.
Phase two will consist of building the back portions of those 4 enclosures so
that the 8 animals will be fully accommodated before continuing. Phase two
is estimated to cost $6,000 in materials and again volunteers will provide the
labor.
Phase three will consist of building the front portions of the remaining 2
enclosures. At that point the remaining 2 groups of animals will be moved
if there temporary homes have not become permanent homes. Phase three is
estimated to cost $3,900 in materials using volunteer labor.
Phase four will consist of building the back portions of the 2 remaining
enclosures. Phase four is estimated to cost $3,000 in materials again
using volunteer labor.
That brings the total tab to build all 6 enclosures to provide permanent homes
for 12 animals to $26,000. Needless to say we will need a significant
amount of help to raise the funds necessary to accomplish this goal. We
are busy trying to get grant applications sent out in order to raise some of
this, but we need your help too.
We will continue to bring you updates of this situation as new information
becomes available.
Please continue to send these updates to everyone you know. Thank you.
Frank Wendland
Cofounder
W.O.L.F.
http://www.wolfsanctuary.net.
Donations are tax deductible and
should be made payable to:
Indigo
Mountain Nature Center
and reference " Texas
Wolf Rescue Animals"
 |
Welcome to North American Wolf
Association. This is the road going in and an example of the
26-acre facility. If you don't have four-wheel drive, you probably
will have to be pulled out before you get over a hundred yards down the
road. (This is an example of the roads a week after the latest
rain.) Medical supplies, food, etc., all have to be carried in by
hand - which is about a half mile. |
| If you make it past the first mud hole shown above, there
are four others to get through before you finally get to the pens.
The one on the right is the last one. Note it isn't quite so
rutted because most give up or get stuck before making it this far.
Also note the round tub on the right. That is the water supply
for the animals.
If you look in the background on the far left - you will see two sets
of pens.
|
 |
 |
To the left is an example of the pen size.
This pen contains two animals - one unsocialized husky and a low content
wolfdog that were previously represented as wolves. Anyone much
taller than 5'6" has to bend over in order to walk around inside
the pens. |
| Here is yet another example of the pens at NAWA.
This particular pen holds two animals and there is approximately another
foot of space not shown in the photo. Please note
-- the tops are not solid - that is debris that has fallen
on the top of the wire. |
 |
 |
The best and only decent sized pen on the facility was for the
Donnelly Pack. It is a fair size for two animals (approximately 50
x 50 feet). However, it was built to house 17 animals, not
two. The water you see on the right is not a pond but a sink hole
filled with stagnant water. If you will look closely you can
also see the algae on the ground.
According to volunteers several dead wolfdogs were pulled out of this
puddle.
|
| The alley was used to separate the injured pack member
from the rest of the Donally Pack. |
 |
 |
This is Beowolf, the remaining male from the Arizona
Pack. |
| The picture on the right is the one remaining female,
Frackett, also from the Donally Pack. |
 |
 |
On the left is Jerry Mills, from Lupine Legacy,
resting on one of the piles of wire that have rusted and gone to waste.
The shed in the background was the cougar's pen. The trenches
worn in the soil from pacing are also filled with urine smelling
stagnant water.
|
|
Click
here for more pictures. |