Wolves in literature have gotten a bad rap. Think about ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ who, even though eaten by the Big Bad Wolf, survives; the wolf is killed instead. In ‘The Three Little Pigs,’ a big bad wolf is ultimately scalded to death in a cauldron. The dreaded werewolf (half man, half wolf) played a role in Greek mythology, caused hysteria during medieval Europe and is a popular character in current books and movies. Fortunately, the ferocious wolf in literature is in sharp contrast to the calm, high-content wolf dogs (dogs that are part wolf) found in ‘dog’ runs in the Wolf Connection, a sanctuary in rural Acton near Palmdale. The area is desolate and visitors drive the final mile to the site on a one-lane dirt road that leads through a small stream. Wolf howls bounce off the land like a welcoming chorus as my friend and I get out of the car and are greeted by two large dog-like animals that bound up to sniff us. ‘That’s Wyoh and that’s Tala,’ said Teo Alfero, the founder of Wolf Connection, a nonprofit wolf rescue sanctuary. Like domesticated canines, the wolf dogs appeared to appreciate petting, but unlike man’s best friends, wolves howl. ‘Every morning, like roosters, they howl between 6 and 6:30,’ said Alfero, explaining that they howl for various reasons. ‘If two are fighting, another in the pack may start howling and the rest will join in. It can be a way of calming the fighters down.’ Food or the possibility of it might also cause them to howl. The sanctuary, barely two years old and consisting of a mobile home for Alfero, two small sheds and kennels for the animals, is more about the possibilities of what it might become, rather than what currently exists. The center of the area, which has been blessed with a Choctaw prayer, is shaded by a small grove of olive trees. Pacific Palisades residents Grace Kono-Wells and Vernon Wells, who now sit on the nonprofit’s board, learned about Alfero’s wolf rescue in 2009. ‘One of my spirit guides is a wolf,’ said Vernon, a well-known Australian actor who has appeared opposite Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He and Grace, who owns a transcription company Keystrokes, sought out Alfero. Alfero, 40, who is originally from Buenos Aires, worked with Community Matters helping empower teens. ‘My dog Tala is part wolf,’ Alfero said. ‘After months of looking for a companion, I came in contact with Tia Torres at Villalobos Rescue Center in Agua Dulce now the star of the ‘Pitbulls and Parolees’ on ‘Animal Planet.’ She introduced me to a pack of sixteen wolf dogs that she had just rescued from another organization that had closed several months earlier due to the owner’s passing.’ Alfero thought he might be able to save the animals and create an interesting way to help troubled youth. He took a gamble; called people he knew and now two years later, he has 20 wolf dogs on 30 acres cared for by a staff of 15 volunteers. Alfero has been taking the animals to schools, hosted a Girl Scout campout at the site and fostered a relationship with Penny Lane, which cares for abused and neglected children. ‘Animals help kids connect on a primal level,’ Alfero said, noting that for many troubled kids, ‘trust is a big issue, but kids understand quickly they can trust these animals, but not fool them. The children and wolf dogs have worked well together.’ Walking by the ‘dogs’ in their cages, one wishes they could run free, but Alfero noted, ‘In California there is no tolerance for these animals, people shoot them.’ The animals in the compound have been neutered. It is illegal in California to house pure bred wolves, unless one has a permit. Historically, wolves were found all over the Northern Hemisphere, but trapping and killing them led the species to near extinction in Europe and the continental United States. They were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995, and have thrived, despite territorial wars between ranchers and wolves, which were suspected of killing livestock. Alfero pointed to a female named Taboo. ‘We discovered her tied to a tree,’ he said, noting that each animal has a distinct personality. ‘Volunteers generally bond with a particular animal.’ One volunteer was so devastated when the animal he had been watching died of old age that he put the 160-pound animal on his shoulders and carried him to the top of a mountain to bury him. (In the wild, wolves live six to eight years; in captivity it can be twice as long.) A new wolf dog had been rescued less than a week ago from an Agoura Hills pound. ‘These animals are the first to be euthanized because they’re considered dangerous, like pit bulls,’ Kono-Wells said. Then Zimba, who was in the small play yard with her, licked her face, as if to disprove the animal’s bad reputation. Wolves and dogs share behavioral traits, and scientists believe that wolves are the direct ancestors of today’s domestic dogs. Wolves belong to packs, so when a pet owner leaves to go to work or school, the wolf-dog may try to chew its way out of the house to rejoin the owner. ‘People get wolf breeds when they’re small and cute, but as they grow, they realize they don’t make the best pets because they need room to run and need their pack around them,’ Alfero said, rubbing the recently-rescued animal. ‘We’re looking for a name that means Zen-like, because when we put him with the other animals, they seem calmer.’ The animals are taken out for daily exercise, much like dogs are walked. Once a month, up to 10 people can hike with the wolves over the rocky terrain. The charge is $35 and includes a potluck dinner. ‘Initially it was free,’ said Kono-Wells, but then the board realized that the cost of feeding people after the hike meant fewer resources for the animals. The animals’ monthly food tab is $1,800. ‘I’d like to get raw meat for them, but we don’t have a refrigerator,’ Alfero said. The compound also lacks electricity, although a vendor has donated solar panels. The board wants to find a contractor to install them. Recently the nonprofit received a grant from the Annenberg Foundation. Kono-Wells and Wells also hope they can interest schools in having a high-protein canned food drive for the wolves. According to the National Geographic, wolves live and hunt in packs of six to 10 animals for their preferred prey’large animals such as deer, elk and moose. A single animal can consume 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of meat at a sitting. Wolves in the wild also eat smaller mammals, birds, fish, lizards, snakes and fruit. The needs are many’including an on-staff veterinarian or someone who will work pro bono. ‘We’re lucky,’ Wells said. ‘Zimba got sick a couple of months ago, but we got a last-minute contribution for medicine and the vet.’ The Palisadians said ‘It would be nice if there were funds in place, rather than scrambling for them whenever there is an emergency.’ Five thousand feet of fencing is still needed to enclose the compound and volunteers are needed to install it. Eventually the area will also have a five-acre enclosure where the wolves can run. ‘The goal is to let the whole pack out at once and let them play unattended,’ Alfero said. Hikes are held the last Saturday of every month, and the Wolf Connection will host VIP events at the sanctuary. Call: (661) 450-8191 or visit: wolfconnection.org.
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