He is NOT on the Tour Path.
In April of 2023, Wild Spirit received a call from Big Oak Wolf Sanctuary, a fellow rescue located in Florida, asking for our help to save the life of a male mid-content wolfdog named Bowser, who was living with his family in Arizona. Big Oak’s Director explained that they had agreed to place the animal, and the owner had even found a transporter to bring him all the way to Florida, but at the last minute, the driver backed out, leaving them with no other options to make the long trip. As such, they wanted to know if Wild Spirit might have the space to take him in instead, knowing we were just a few hours away from where he was living.
At the time, we were well beyond our max capacity for new intakes, having rescued five high-contents just months prior, with two more in the works for the months to follow. Still, we wanted to help, especially after learning that Big Oak was also beyond their capacity, but willing to make things work in order to give this sweet and gentle soul a chance at a new life in a safe place, so we offered what we could: a ride from Arizona to Florida, courtesy of the Wild Spirit Team. Big Oak was overjoyed at the offer, and we began making plans to pick Bowser up for the long trip to his new home.
However, as we began speaking with Bowser’s owner and hearing more about his gentle nature–and that their reason for re-homing him was due to threats made by what would’ve been future neighbors in a state that doesn’t take too kindly to wolves–our thoughts about his potential placement options began to shift as we realized he might actually make a great addition to one of our already established pairs. The more we played around with the idea of taking him into our own sanctuary, the more certain we became about his potential for success in our care. So we made the call to Big Oak, letting them know we would be willing to place him if they were okay with the last-minute change of plans. Of course, they were overjoyed at the news, though we were all sad to miss out on a visit between rescuers.
With Big Oak’s blessing, we made the brief trip to Arizona where we officially met with Bowser, who was just as sweet as we had been told. He greeted us on leash with his owners, who then helped us get him loaded into the rescue van for the drive home. Upon arriving, Bowser was initially introduced to Enya, our only single female wolfdog at the time. While the pair coexisted fairly well for about a week, Enya eventually made Bowser feel unwelcome in their enclosure, to the point that he refused to return home following a walk one day, making it clear to staff he was in need of new companions. He was then introduced to Brienne and Sitka–both high-content wolfdogs of varying ages but known for living well with others without ever causing any conflict.
Though they lived together successfully for a while, there was eventually a conflict between the trio, with Brienne and Sitka ganging up on Bowser. We removed him from that enclosure and after a few weeks of bachelor living, we successfully introduced him to mid-content wolfdog Yue, and they have lived together peacefully ever since.
We are so grateful to have Bowser in our care, and for all the collaboration that went into making his rescue a success!
