"Lily, The Beautiful White Wolf That Passed Away On a Snowy Day"

Posted by jennifer on October 14, 2007 in Mission Wolf.

At around 2:30 p.m. mountain time today, I received an e-mail from Sandrine up at Mission: Wolf. An hour previous to the e-mail, Lily- a gorgeous white wolf had passed away from what may have been a tumor. Her brother Polar Bear had also had the same thing. She was having a hard time breathing so while taking a blood sample to be examined by the emergency vet, she took one last breath of fresh air and relaxed peacefully into the snow. In a remote location 9,000 feet in the vast wilderness of the San Juan mountains, Lily's heart stopped and she flew away.
It's not an easy time up at Mission: Wolf these days because the majority of wolves that have lived full, good lives are now in their geriatric stage. Rasta, another wolf had just passed away two weeks ago from injuries from a fight over food and about a month ago, Sabertooth- (the last remaining wolf from the famous Sawtooth wolf pack) was on his last legs but has since made a remarkable recovery.
As I head to Yellowstone faced with the possibilty that some people may not agree with keeping a wolf in captivity, I have learned that there is unfortunatly no other option. If you are reading this blog, please spread the word that wolves and other wild animals are not meant to be kept as pets. The fact is, mostly all of these wolves have come from a few different places in their lives and cannot return into the wild. They have either been abused, bought or sold on the black market, left to die chained to a tree or have been dumped at a local animal shelter because of owners not being able to handle them. A wolf is always a wild creature and we as humans should try to keep it that way. Once we take wolves into our homes, they become dependent on humans to survive and therefore lack any ability to survive in the wild. There are also wolf hybrid problems as well. If a wolf or a hybrid is dropped off at an animal shelter, it is euthanized, not put up for adoption. If it weren't for places like Mission: Wolf, these wolves would be dead but instead live a longer life than one might think. They live well beyond the lifespan of a wolf in the wild. Right now, Mission: Wolf is building an enclosure on 20 acers of land for these guys to run. The smallest enclosure is two acers. If you'd like to donate or become a wolf caretaker, please visit: www.missionwolf.com. The wolves will thank you for it and I'm sure, Lily would too...
Have a great week,
Jennifer

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