Shunka joined the Big Pack in the Sky in April of 2008.

She was assisted at 16 years old due to bone cancer.

Shunka was born in 1992 with her brother, Wambli, at a puppy mill in New Mexico. The breeder specialized in mid-content wolfdogs, and kept their adult animals in tiny cages. The pups that were born were treated no better, without any socialization or access to their parents after 15 days. Unfortunately, although the animals were treated cruelly, the breeder was just inside the laws of animal cruelty and neglect, and could not be shut down.

The breeder called us, hoping that we could take Shunka and her brother, because their shy behavior was making it difficult to sell them. Aware of the alternatives, we accepted, and the two siblings came to Wild Spirit when they were 15 weeks old. They were too young to be left unattended in an enclosure, so they lived with a staff member in a home.

At first, they were very skittish of people and hid under their Caretaker’s bed for a few months whenever they were present. With Wild Spirit becoming their forever home, socialization was necessary to reduce stress. It took immeasurable time and patience, but they began to come out and become accustomed to people.

As soon as Shunka and Wambli were old enough to live unsupervised, they migrated outdoors to an enclosure!

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