end of last year.
“We call Phantom Sable’s service dog,” Pat
laughed. “They never leave each other’s side.
Sable used to be one of our great ambassadors,
but now she’s much older and prefers to
stay at home.”
The most famous resident of Shy Wolf is a
huge wolf named Yuki, an 88 percent, 120-
pound wolf dog that has recently been diagnosed
with blood cancer. (See photo next
page) He was made famous by a viral photo
that was introduced to social media in the last
year, showing him with one of the few volunteers
he allows in his company. The photo has
gained worldwide attention, and while he has
been at Shy Wolf for years, he is now making
headlines on television shows such as Inside
Edition.
He is very picky about whom he likes, and he
much prefers young female volunteers.
Loki, Raven and Jenna live in an enclosure
together. Loki is about 60 percent wolf, and he
started out as an ambassador for the sanctuary.
Unfortunately, he decided he doesn’t like to
ride in a car.
Mohan and Dancer are a pair in an enclosure
as well, while Dancer, the female, rubbed
continuously on the bars in an attempt to be
petted, while Mohan was not as approachable.
Dancer was owned by a woman who
would take her on business trips and tie her
to the bed in her hotel room when she
traveled. It eventually led to a curvature in
Dancer’s spine that shelter volunteers and a
chiropractor are actively treating. She lost her
pack mate last year, and while they had tried to
pair her with other wolves and wolf dogs, she
would have none of it. Mohan was the most recent
companion shelter volunteers were pairing
her with at the time of our visit, and they
appeared to be getting along quite nicely.
Jasper, a pure white long-legged drink of
water, is a great example of the difference
between a wolf and a dog. When you see him
there is no question in your mind that he is a
wolf.
“If you look at him, you’ll see that his legs appear
to start where his neck is - there is barely
a chest,” Pat said. “Dogs have more of a chest
and more space between their front legs.
Wolves have much more fur in their ears, and
you’ll also notice their nose is straight down,
almost like a sky slope. Dogs have a more
rounded or L-shaped nose.”
Jasper was owned by a family that loved him,
but he was eventually turned over to Nancy
after his humans realized they just couldn’t
handle the responsibility. He was purchased as
what they called a “50/50” mix. As it turns out,
he is all wolf.
The family eventually surrendered him to
Nancy.
Pat, who is a level four volunteer (a feat that
requires hundreds of hours of training and
experience), said most of the volunteers at the
sanctuary have at least one animal that doesn’t
like them. It is common when working with
exotic animals, especially animals that have had
Kiya is
one of the
wolves that can
be interacted
with by visitors.