He is NOT on the Tour Path.
At the time, we were beyond our maximum capacity after taking in seven wolfdogs from Kansas following the death of their owner just a few months prior. However, we wanted to help as much as possible in securing the Pennsylvania Six a safe place to call home, so we agreed to assist by reaching out to the Wolfdog Rescue Network to see if any other facilities might be able to place them. To sweeten the deal, we even offered to make the trip to Pennsylvania to assist with and pay for each animal’s vetting, and then transport them anywhere in the lower 48, all to make sure these sweet babies (all of which were 3 years old or younger at the time) lived to see another day.
Sadly, after weeks with no offers for placement, we realized if we wanted to see these animals’ lives saved, we’d need to take matters into our own hands. Thus we began building several new enclosures – AGAIN – all with a tight deadline looming over our heads.
Fortunately, we were able to pull off construction in time, and quickly made our way to Pennsylvania to retrieve our six new wild-spirited rescues. Along the way, we were fortunate to stay the night with two of our staff members’ families, allowing us a rare opportunity to eat real meals and sleep in actual beds before the big day’s events. (A huge thank you to each of you!)
Better yet, one of the families happened to live just an hour away from where we were headed, and offered to make the trip to assist us with any aspect of the rescue we’d permit! And so, with our team in tow, we made our way to the owner’s home, where we assessed the situation and came up with a game plan for getting each rescue out of their enclosure, into crates, and onboard the rescue van. With six animals in total – all with varying degrees of socialization and living singly, in a pair, and in a trio – we had our work cut out for us! Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and in no time we had each of our new babies loaded up and ready for the long trip back home.
Since arriving back at the sanctuary, each of our new rescues have settled in at their own pace, and have won over the love and adoration of our team immediately. Cassian and his companion, Nesta, have remained together as a bonded pair. Of the six new rescues, these two are easily the shiest, but have slowly started warming up to their Caretakers (especially if food is involved). Unfortunately, Cassian and another rescue both came to us with irreversible damage to their eyes, likely as a result of improper care as babies. At this time, we know that he can at least partially see, but a closer examination of his eyes will take place in the near future, when he’s scheduled to be neutered. Otherwise, Cassian is a happy and healthy animal, and we can’t wait to see how he continues to grow in our care.
All in all, we’re so grateful we were able to take each of them in, knowing they’ll have a safe place to live out the rest of their days. We’d like to offer a HUGE and heartfelt thank you to all the people that made this rescue possible! Work like this truly does take a village, and we are so grateful for all the heart and hard work that went into pulling this one off.