Expanding the pack: Shy Wolf Sanctuary welcomes two new members
Ringing the doorbell at the Shy Wolf Sanctuary triggered the howl of a lone wolf, but it wasn’t long before a chorus of others followed suit to let the founder of the Shy Wolf Sanctuary, Nancy Smith, know that a guest was at the door.
The Naples-based sanctuary was started in 1993 by Smith and her husband, Kent, with the intention of providing a home for animals who otherwise would have been killed or released into the wild where they may not survive.
It has housed anything ranging from prairie dogs to raccoons and coyotes, but what it is most recognized for is housing wolves and wolf-dogs like Jena and Rebel, a timberwolf and grey wolf-dog who recently joined the pack.
Rebel’s previous owner suffered from cancer, Smith said, and her parents were going to give Rebel to a shelter because they were unable to take care of it.
Luckily, Debbie Kimberlin who had been working with the Shy Wolf found out about him through the Wolf Dog Rescue Network and contacted Deanna Deppen, Shy Wolf's president, who brought him to the sanctuary.
Jena, who was found half-starved, wasn’t as lucky.
“Jena was running loose in Temple Terrace for six weeks and there was a woman who kept leaving food out for her who eventually called animal control,” Smith said.
According to the Shy Wolf Sanctuary website, Kim Kapes of the In Harmony with Nature center first received the call about Jena but was full. She contacted Shy Wolf and Jena was eventually transferred to there instead.
Now a healthy wolf, Jena is housed with two others including Lakota, a wolf-dog that Smith said came from Hollywood, Florida.
More than 10 other wolves at the sanctuary came from all over Florida and the United States under many different circumstances.
Some wolves were products of illegal breeding while others were given to the shelter due to concerns by their owners – as is the case of a wolf-dog from Georgia whose owner bought him and then later found out that she was pregnant.
Smith explained that the owner called Shy Wolf Sanctuary with concerns about the well-being of her child with the wolf-dog in the house, but Smith said determining how the animal would react to an infant was hard to tell regardless of how domesticated they may seem.
“Some of them have a higher prey drive than others and you won’t know (how their drive is) until something happens, but why take a chance?” Smith said. “They might see that baby as helpless and if they’re hungry, they can take it. It’s just nature kicking in for them.”
Smith explained that one of the things she sees a lot is the misunderstanding about wolves and wolf-dogs.
“People who get wolf-dogs want something that looks like a wolf and acts like a dog and that rarely, if ever, happens,” Smith said. “People think that they can have them and change them, but they can’t. Wolves are what they are.”
Smith explained that taking on an animal like a wolf, even if it is mixed with a domesticated dog, requires a lot of knowledge to ensure the well-being of the animal and safety. This is why she assigns each wolf a different level and volunteers who enter the sanctuary must complete assessments to be able to handle animals at different levels.
Wolves like Jena and Rebel are classified as level three wolves which means that volunteers and guests are able to enter the pens and interact with them but Smith said that the higher the level, the more volunteers need to know about the animal.
“With levels four and five, the animal picks you and if they don’t want you there, they’ll tell you,” Smith said, “But there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
At the sanctuary, Smith and other volunteers work with people who may be afraid of animals like wolves in order to help them understand more about them.
“When we are scared, facts don’t transfer well and people tend to ignore them,” Smith said. “There was a lady who would go white water rafting and climb mountains, but she was scared to death of wolves and she explained that when she was little she was bit by a dog, but I always have to tell people, ‘That was then, this is now.’”
By helping people face their fears about wolves, Smith hopes to educate them on the animals and why it’s important that they aren’t bought or sold as pets.
“I think there’s something inside of people that say they will get attention if they have these kinds of animals but if they don’t do their homework to know what the animals need, it’s hard to understand how to keep them,” Smith said.
Smith urges people who may be considering buying an animal like a fox or a wolf to think about their decisions before doing so.
“Think, and do your homework first. It’s very important that people do a lot of research before getting an exotic animal because it requires a lot of care and to do it right, you have to learn about them.”