{"id":23751,"date":"2025-01-31T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wolfwood-refuge-near-ignacio-rescues-15-hybrids-from-torturous-ohio-fur-farm\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:42:06","slug":"wolfwood-refuge-near-ignacio-rescues-15-hybrids-from-torturous-ohio-fur-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wolfwood-refuge-near-ignacio-rescues-15-hybrids-from-torturous-ohio-fur-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolfwood Refuge near Ignacio rescues 15 hybrids from \u2018torturous\u2019 Ohio fur farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Three
Three wolfdog hybrids are adapting to life under the care at Wolfwood Refuge near Ignacio after being rescued from a farm in Ohio on Saturday. The wolfdogs and other animals such as skunks, raccoons and foxes were bred for their fur and urine, and many were kept in small cages from birth to death. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Editor\u2019s note: This story contains graphic descriptions of animal abuse.<\/em><\/p>\n

IGNACIO \u2013 Eleven adult wolfdog hybrids and four wolfdog pups were introduced to their new forever home at Wolfwood Refuge in Ignacio on Saturday after they were rescued from squalid conditions at a fur and urine farm<\/a> near Cleveland, Ohio, in December.<\/p>\n

The wolfdogs\u2019 new home is a remarkable improvement from the farm they were rescued from, where they and foxes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, coyotes and other wolfdogs lived and died while boxed in \u201cfilthy wire-bottom cages,\u201d according to The Humane Society of the United States.<\/p>\n

The Humane Society said in a news release over 250 animals were removed from Grand River Fur Exchange in Hartsgrove, Ohio, at the request of the Ashtabula County Commissioner\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Wolfwood founder Paula Woerner, who along with a caretaker visited the farm for three days last week to rescue as many wolfdogs as they could manage, said 411 animals were found in \u201cabsolutely the worst condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"One
One wolfdog hybrid had its ear chewed off while in captivity at an abusive Ohio fur and urine farm, Grand River Fur Exchange, whose owner was found dead outside the animal pens in December. This wolfdog is one of 11 adults and four puppies that Wolfwood Refuge rescued on Saturday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She has run her sanctuary for wolfdogs in La Plata County for 22 years. During her three-decade career, she has never seen worse conditions than those on the farm in Hartsgrove.<\/p>\n

The animals were kept in wired pens lifted off the ground without straw bedding. When they urinated, the urine trickled through the wire gaps and down a chute to collect in a bucket, Woerner said, scrolling through pictures on her phone she took at the farm.<\/p>\n

She said the urine was collected and sold for resale as bait; coyote urine is often sold as \u201chumane\u201d deer deterrent for home gardens \u2013 but people who buy and use such products need to be aware of where they come from.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were, you know, 96 coyotes and 90 foxes, and just this ridiculous amount of animals, and absolutely the most torturous conditions you can imagine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Paula
Paula Woerner, right, founder and owner of Wolfwood Refuge, and Emily Rickard, caretaker at the facility, talk on Thursday about the recent rescue of 11 adult wolfdog hybrids and four wolfdog puppies from an abusive fur and urine farm in Ohio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rickard said animal skulls were visible in some pens and carcasses were visible in others. She saw barrels full of animal corpses.<\/p>\n

She and Woerner said the stench of death and decay was unbearable. They are shocked nobody noticed the rampant abuse sooner because the smell must have carried for miles.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth
Elizabeth Lawyer, left, and Emily Rickard, both caregivers at Wolfwood Refuge near Ignacio, hold three of the puppies that were recently rescued from an Ohio farm where they were in an abusive situation. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Humane Society said some animals were \u201cmissing toes, ears, tails and limbs.\u201d Veterinarians determined they lost toes because of the cages\u2019 wire flooring and lost limbs because of steel-jaw traps found about the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany were emaciated and severely dehydrated, and several animals were found deceased and covered in snow,\u201d the Humane Society reported<\/a>. \u201cWhen responders arrived on the property, they found a coyote dying slowly, caught in a leghold trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grand River Fur Exchange owner Mark Gutman \u201cdropped dead\u201d outside the animal pens, Woerner said, calling it poetic. His death led to the discovery of the conditions at the farm.<\/p>\n

Rescuing the wolfdogs<\/div>\n

Saturday was literally the deadline to find the animals shelter; Woerner said any animals not taken by that day would be euthanized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe loaded up 15 of them, 11 adults and four babies in a Wild Spirits Wolf Sanctuary van and transported them back to Wolfwood. And so we have taken the most animals out of that situation,\u201d she said. \u201cNow the hard work begins of trying to rehabilitate them and get them healthy and give them a life that\u2019s not torture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rickard said she rode in the back of the van the whole 26-hour drive back to La Plata County to tend to the pups, that were not yet able to see or hear and required bottle feeding.<\/p>\n

Woerner said her veterinarian went to the refuge after the rescued wolfdogs arrived to perform triage and determine which animals needed care most urgently. Woerner has begun taking the animals to the veterinarian\u2019s office for more comprehensive care this week.<\/p>\n

The wolfdogs will be quarantined in smaller enclosures for several weeks while they are spayed and neutered, vaccinated, and receive other treatment for their safety and the safety of other wolfdogs at Wolfwood before they are released into larger pens, she said.<\/p>\n

One wolfdog has a tumor. Another one is blind, she said. Pending blood work and lab reports will help identify other health problems with the rescues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen comes the socialization, getting them used to being around people that aren\u2019t going to hurt them,\u201d she said. \u201cAllowing us to interact and all of that, and trying to keep them together in the groups that they came in, and then finding the right enclosures for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emily
Emily Rickard, caretaker at Wolfwood Refuge, interacts on Thursday with three of 11 adult wolfdog hybrids and four wolfdog puppies that were recently recused from an Ohio farm where they were being abused. Wolfwood is licensed by the state of Colorado and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to care for wolfdogs. It is home to 64 wolfdog hybrids, including the rescues taken in on Saturday. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It will require observation, assessment, planning and physical labor to reorganize the enclosures to best suit each wolfdog, she said.<\/p>\n

The blind wolfdog, she said, can\u2019t be kept in an enclosure with a lot of vegetation because it is prone to bump into tree trunks and get poked by branches.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach one has to be considered individually,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll do what\u2019s very best for (the) particular animal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A safe place<\/div>\n

Wolfwood is licensed by the state of Colorado and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to care for wolfdogs. It is home to 64 wolfdog hybrids, including the rescues taken in on Saturday, Woerner said. The refuge has been in the process of downsizing and the new animals scaled up its population by about one-third.<\/p>\n

\"Wolfdogs
Wolfdogs adopted by Wolfwood Refuge remain there for the rest of their natural lives. There are about 30 enclosures of varying sizes on 40 acres of woodland area. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It\u2019s located somewhere in the rocky, shrub-covered hills around Ignacio \u2013 the precise location is not publicly disclosed for the protection of the wolfdogs housed there.<\/p>\n

Wolfdogs adopted by the refuge remain there for the rest of their natural lives. There are about 30 enclosures of varying sizes on 40 acres of woodland area, she said. Each wolfdog is placed in an enclosure designed for it. Elderly wolfdogs, for example, prefer smaller enclosures because they have less control over their environment in large, wide-open spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trick is to be able to save animals and not harm the quality of life for the ones we have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rickard has worked with the refuge for the past nine years. She said it\u2019s not uncommon for volunteers, interns, community service workers and visitors who meet the wolfdogs and see how they are cared for to say it\u2019s life-changing.<\/p>\n

The refuge has had an effect on the rural community of La Plata County, too. She said 20- and 30-year-olds grew up in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWolfwood has made a big impact on a rural community that might have negative opinions about wolves,\u201d she said. \u201cChildren now have been growing up here for 20 some years, almost 30 years, hearing a different story about wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wolfdogs
Wolfdogs adopted by Wolfwood Refuge remain there for the rest of their natural lives. There are about 30 enclosures of varying sizes on 40 acres of woodland area. Fifteen new wolfdogs, including four pups, were introduced to the sanctuary on Saturday after they were rescued from an abusive farm in Ohio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She said the refuge has hopefully dampened stigma against wolves, while at the same time the number of wolfdogs kept as pets has diminished. She isn\u2019t sure if that is just a \u201csign of the times,\u201d but she likes to think education and firsthand experience at the refuge played a part.<\/p>\n

Woerner said wolfdogs don\u2019t often make good pets because each individual wolfdog has its own personality. They like to dig up yards to make dens and their temperaments are generally unpredictable.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that wolfdogs are more vicious than other canines. But people often misinterpret their behavior and the animals end up being abused.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to understand you can\u2019t treat them like dogs. They\u2019re very different in their physical needs and their emotional needs and their mental needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Woerner said the rescued wolfdogs are adapting well. Day by day, they indicate they are a little more comfortable with their caregivers.<\/p>\n

But caring for the new wolfdogs won\u2019t be cheap. She said it will cost about $30,000 or $2,000 per animal just for spaying, neutering, vaccinations and screening. There\u2019s no telling what other health issues could crop up down the road.<\/p>\n

People interested in supporting Wolfwood Refuge can visit the sanctuary\u2019s website<\/a> and follow the donation link, she said.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A previous version of this story misstated how rescued wolfdogs were transported back to Wolfwood Refuge. Refuge founder and owner Paula Woerner collaborated with Wild Spirits Wolf Sanctuary to transport the animals.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sanctuary a source of wolfdog education, experience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[382,168,950,28,1235,475],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-animal","tag-crime","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-ignacio","tag-la-plata-county-colorado"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78246,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23751\/revisions\/78246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23751"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}