NOV 2012 newsletter

NOVEMBER · DECEMBER 2012

The loss of my Prissy

I lost my child on October 10th to cancer. She was 15 years old. So much love and so many memories One day in the summer of 1993 I went to the animal shelter to look for a dog after I had lost my Tara. As I walked through the hall hearing dogs bark as if they were saying “pick me, pick me” and seeing these babies who were looking through my soul with waging tails, begging for attention and hoping to be chosen for a new home, I came across this beautiful Sheltie/Shepherd mix who captured my heart. The only thing I knew about this girl was she was dumped off in the forest and no one could catch her.

Finally, someone trapped her in their garage and called animal control.

I brought her home. She was with me most of the time except when I was at work. She had complete confidence and in time she earned the name, “mama wolf ” because she would dominate 3 wolves by the name of Akela, Makah Behr and Yukon. They listened to her as if she were the alpha in the pack. It was funny to see this small dog have these wolves roll over on their back and submit.

We developed a special relationship and became inseparable.

Together we went through many things. A divorce of 15 years and y2k, cloning of a lamb named Dolly, and Princess Di oh my.

3 presidents, historic oil spills, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.

The internet, Facebook, and Google was created. Bombings and war on terror, end of the Soviet Union, and the killing of Osama.

DNA and many diseases we never heard of, Anthrax and the war on breast cancer, Avatar and the end of rock and roll like it use to be. The Haymen and Waldo fires and 3 locations of the wolf center and almost 5,000

dinners together.

What I will miss the most is her loyalty and how she wanted to be with me every second.

I feel very lucky that since I work on site I was able to be with her most every day.

She laid either under my desk by my feet or in the area where she could see me. She received millions of pets and praise from the countless visitors we see and she sat in the passenger seat in my truck to go to the grocery store or to run errands with me.

After she was diagnosed with a tumor that was inoperable and not treatable without serious complications, the next day she could not walk because the tumor was pinching her nerve in her back. I carried her to work so that she could be next to me throughout the day and carried her home to be with me at night.

A few days later at 2am I heard her gasping for air. She was suffocating from pieces of the tumor that was causing clots in her lungs. I was panicky not knowing what to do to help her. She looked up at me when her breathing was labored and she was suffering and her eyes said, “mama, please help me” I knew it was her time and Mike and I

rushed her to our vet. I held her in my arms and whispered in her ear how much I loved her as her life left her body.

She is in my heart forever and her ashes are in every place that she used to be. My heart is sad and will be for a long time. Anyone who has lost a loved one can relate how I feel, however I know that her spirit is alive with me and someday we will meet again at the rainbow bridge.

Darlene Kobobel Prissy’s mom

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

Please don’t eat me!

Our 1st annual Day of the Dead celebration honored our lost pets. It was a perfect night with a beautiful full moon, inviting fire, and surrounded by people who were here to remember the lives of their pets. There was so much good energy and it was a great experience.

Resident ladies’ man, Kekoa... kissing a man?

Shadow being a little brat and yet sooooo soo adorable at the same time!! He is worse than Micah! :)

fun with the fox-youth photo

With great thanks to the Rocky Mountain Classical Academy for a donation to our Center “JEANS FOR DREAMS” in the amount of $1,761.90!

This check will go towards our winter projects. What an amazing school.

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

Barb and our 19 year old cat Kenya graces the desk with his presence. Notice he sits where people sign-in so they have to pet him.

Golden Eyes Bright

By Nancy Makuch

Vicki and her parade of animals

Golden eyes appear in the lonely dark.

The feeling of being watched by strangers.

A prompt chill creeps down like a reflex arc, Warning you of the approaching dangers.

But nothing comes; it is as still as snow.

You can hear the whispers of quiet souls Lurking deep into the forests below.

The haunting echoes as they all patrol.

But then a magnificent howl is cast Music of wolves sounds like an angels cry.

The mysterious strangers, heard at last Their song, belted, through the dark starry sky, They run through the trees; the spirits of night Whispers of wolves with their golden eyes bright.

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

CALENDAR

CWWC special events : these tours and events are in addition to our standard 10 am, noon, 2 pm tours

FULL MOON TOUR DECEMBER 29

FEEDING FEST TOUR Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday CALL FOR TIMES

Check in by 4:00pm Meet and greet one of our wolves at 4:30pm - Tour starts immediately after and lasts approximately 1 hour.

Meet our resident animals during the feeding tour and observe them when they are most active...feeding time!

Learn about hunting, howling and hierarchy and communicate with the pack in a group howl!

Wear warm clothes and good boots. Bring a camera and flashlight. Cocoa and coffee will be provided ADULTS $25 KIDS $15 (8-12 yrs) No kids under 8 *the first date must be full before the second date opens

Adults $20 Kids 12 & under $10

walk on the wild side

Thursday & Sunday CALL FOR TIMES Start by walking with a guide through the Center and seeing the wolves, coyote and fox then prepare for a 1/2 mile walk with one of our wolves down a dirt forest road.

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED FOR ALL TOURS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

719-687-9742

All tours have limited space and we have a no-cancellation policy from May-October

GOT MEAT ?

We are in need

of meat (and moneta ry donations!)

We can take your freezer burned or old We cannot ta meat. ke meat that is spoiled, se asoned, or spiced no r fish with bo nes.

7 1 9-6 8 7-9 7 4

2

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

From Camilla H. Fox, Executive Director Project Coyote I wanted to share my latest blog post about the horrific animal cruelty carried out by a USDA “Wildlife Services” (WS) employee that we helped to expose recently in the Sacramento Bee and other media channels. Read our joint letter to the USDA Wildlife Services calling for Olson’s immediate termination and for an investigation into this and similar reports of wanton animal abuse and cruelty by other USDA WS personnel. And please sign our Change.org petition on this issue and share far and wide with friends, colleagues and family. We are aiming for 10,000 sigs.!

Fire USDA Wildlife Services Employee for Animal Cruelty, Demand Wildlife Advocates

by Camilla Fox – November 14, 2012

Public outraged over photographs showing hunting dogs mauling leghold-trapped coyotes, raccoons, and other wild animals Graphic images of wild animals trapped and tortured by a federal government employee went viral in late October, raising public outrage. The photographs – showing hunting dogs mauling leghold-trapped coyotes, raccoons, and other wild animals were posted on the personal Facebook and Twitter pages of Jamie P. Olson, an employee of the US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services and a coyote hunting tournament coordinator.

Olson’s job is to trap, poison, and shoot wildlife, largely at the behest of ranchers as part of the agency’s predator control program. However, intentional animal torture is not part of the job description, say wildlife advocates who are calling for an immediate termination of Olson’s service and an investigation into other reports of intentional cruelty by USDA employees.

In their joint letter to USDA Wildlife Services, the Animal Welfare Institute and Project Coyote (PC) wrote: “On Tuesday, October 30, 2012, AWI and PC received the attached photographs, which were published on Mr. Olson’s Facebook, Via.me, and Twitter pages as well as a Strongbow Airedales website. The photographs, which are described as ‘work’ photographs on one or more of these pages, depict trapped raccoons, bobcats, and coyotes in steel-jaw leghold traps. We were further alarmed that instead of immediately killing the trapped animals, this WS employee inflicted even greater fear and pain on already-suffering animals caught in these brutal traps by allowing dogs to torment or attack the trapped animals as is depicted in several of the photographs.

This is unacceptable behavior for any trapper, but such wanton

These photographs were posted on the personal Facebook and Twitter pages of Jamie P. Olson, an employee of the US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services

cruelty and callous disregard for the welfare of these animals is particularly egregious when done by a government employee and must not be tolerated.”

Wildlife advocates shared the photographs with media, which were published by news outlets across the country. Gary Strader, a former Wildlife Services trapper in Nevada, reported in the Sacramento Bee that such abuse is very common. “It always was and always will be controversial. It has never been addressed by the higher-ups. They know it happens on a regular basis,” Strader wrote.

After the photos went viral, Olsen told the Missoula Independent that he had made a “big-ass mistake” by making the photos, which were a few years old, publicly accessible.

“Shit’s hitting the fan and I’m having to explain things,” he said. Olsen has since deactivated his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

This culture of cruelty and indiscriminate killing within Wildlife Services was highlighted in a four-part investigative story about the agency in The Sacramento Bee earlier this year.

PLEASE SIGN: http://www.change.org/petitions/fire-usda-wildlife-services-federal-trapper-jamie-olson-for-animal-cruelty

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

operations, especially its lethal predator control activities. As you can see from the enclosed copy, the series highlights a number of glaring problems, noting that: employees routinely hide non-target animals killed, encouraged by supervisors and the agency’s culture; some of Wildlife Services’ lethal control practices are indiscriminate; and at times lethal control is motivated by the need to keep “hunters busy during the slow winter months” rather than to protect livestock. In addition, Knudson points out that while even the military allows the media into the field, Wildlife Services does not. The Sacramento Bee’s request to observe Wildlife Services’ hunters and trappers in action was turned down by the director of Wildlife Services in Nevada.

These photographs were posted on the personal Facebook and Twitter pages of Jamie P. Olson, an employee of the US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services

Among other things, the Bee found: • With steel traps, wire snares and poison, agency employees have accidentally killed more than 50,000 animals since 2000 that were not problems, including federally protected golden and bald eagles; more than 1,100 dogs, including family pets;and several species considered rare or imperiled bywildlife biologists.

• Since 1987, at least 18 employees and several members of the public have been exposed to cyanide when they triggered spring-loaded cartridges laced with poison meant to kill coyotes. They survived – but 10 people have died and many others have been injured in crashes during agency aerial gunning operations since 1979.

The story led to a Congressional request for a federal investigation and oversight hearings into Wildlife Services.* In their letter to Representatives Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, several members of Congress wrote: “We write today to request that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform perform a thorough investigation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) Wildlife Services program. We are concerned that Wildlife Services is failing to efficiently or effectively use the resources provided to it by American taxpayers and that it is not adequately transparent or accountable to the public.

Information recently brought to light in The Sacramento Bee by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Knudson’s yearlong investigation documents many serious problems that reinforce our existing concerns about Wildlife Service’s

We ask you to conduct a full and thorough investigation of Wildlife Services. Your Committee has stated its commitment to transparency and government responsibility. It is essential that you investigate USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services on their lack of transparency and their waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

In addition to his job with Wildlife Services, Olson is also the director of Coyotehunter.net and the Coyote Hunter Tournament Series. The tournaments award prizes (most often guns) to the contestant who kills the most and largest coyotes in a given time period.

Olson had planned to host the Montana Coyote Classic Nov. 8-10 in Billings – the first Coyote Hunter Tournament Series event in Montana – but canceled it, claiming a lack of registrants. He is a lead organizer for another coyote killing contest hunt scheduled for January 2013 in Dickson, North Dakota.

Both Project Coyote and Animal Welfare Institute have started an online petition targeting Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack demanding Olsen be fired and an investigation into the circumstances under which the photographs were taken as well as into other reports of animal cruelty by USDA employees. * Representatives Issa and Cummings have yet to respond to the request and of this writing, neither Project Coyote nor AWI had received a response from Wildlife Services to their letter calling for Olson’s termination though as reported in the Missoula Independent (11.5.12) “Krischke, the director of Wyoming Wildlife Services, said on Nov. 5 that Olson is under investigation. He declined to comment further.”

Camilla Fox Camilla Fox is Executive Director of Project Coyote, an Earth Island Project, and a Wildlife Consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute.

She is co-author of Coyotes in Our Midst and co-editor and lead author of Cull of the Wild ~ A Contemporary Analysis of Trapping in the United States.

PLEASE SIGN: http://www.change.org/petitions/fire-usda-wildlife-services-federal-trapper-jamie-olson-for-animal-cruelty

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

d l i W e n o G

Wildlife Services Agent

While hunters and trappers routinely post graphic images of their kills, we expect more from federal agents responsible for managing America’s wildlife. Yet, a report from the Sacramento Bee indicates that a federal trapper with USDA’s Wildlife Services posted photos on his Facebook page of his dogs attacking a coyote caught in a leg hold trap. Incidents like these demonstrate a lack of professionalism and suggest that some in the agency are still stuck in the 1930s when bounties were paid for eliminating predators. Hopefully, stories like this one will help raise awareness of the need to reform Wildlife Services.

A proper context for livestock losses – What kills cows and sheep besides wolves? Lots of things. That’s the gist of a recent blog post by our colleagues at Oregon Wild. Newspapers across the region continue to run front page stories when wolves are blamed for dead livestock, while reports of far more devastating losses attributed to other causes get buried. Here are a few recent accounts of livestock lost to something OTHER than wolves:

THANK YOU! We would like to extend sincere gratitude to Mike Cavanaugh from Mike’s Natural Pet Market for his generosity and continued support by donating natural and holistic dog and cat food for our Wolves, Foxes & Coyotes.

CWWC Staff and Volunteers endorse Mike’s Natural Pet Market and shop there for our “domestic” pets natural, organic and holistic pet food. Mike’s also carries a wide variety of supplements, treats, chews and toys for your furry friend.

Visiting Mike’s is like visiting a candy store for your pets.

• 95 sheep died last week from eating poisoned grass in Idaho after their owner illegally grazed his herd in an abandoned mine • Earlier this month domestic dogs killed 44 sheep in Wyoming in a single incident – about the number killed statewide by wolves last year • 44 unattended cows were killed by trucks near Madras, OR when they broke through a fence in September • Last year an Amtrak train killed 24 cows that broke through an unmaintained fence near Klamath Falls, OR The rancher wants compensation • Over 1,200 cows have been stolen by human thieves in Malheur County, OR alone from 2006 – 2009 • A single storm in Montana killed over 2,250 livestock Wolves do kill livestock from time to time.

However, these reports show that, in the bigger picture, wolves account for only a tiny fraction of overall losses and don’t deserve as much attention (or blame) as they typically get.

Mike Cavanaugh - Owner/Nutritional Counselor 3640 Jeannine Drive · Colorado Springs, CO 80917 (719) 570-1488 · www.mikesnaturalpet.com

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

COLORADO WOLF AND WILDLIFE CENTER

LOOKING FOR HOMES

Bailey I am a beautiful and happy dog. I listen to what I am told and seem to have some basic training. I was brought into the shelter as a stray, in March of this year, sadly no-one has claimed me. I love to run and play and I always have a smile on my face. If you are looking for an active dog to walk or hike with I may be your girl! I would really like to be your only animal companion. That way I can get all of your attention! Come see me today, I am looking forward to some long walks and fetch time with you.

Sylvia My previous family sadly lost their home in March of this year, and so did I. I love to play with feather toys and am hoping that my new forever home has some for me to play with. I get along with a few of the other cats here. I love to climb and tuck myself away for a good nap. I enjoy my people time a lot.

I hope my new forever family will give me attention and allow me to be the wonderful cat I am. Please give a girl like me another chance for a furrever home, I am ready to go home today!!!

Call TCRAS, the no-kill shelter in Divide, at 719-686-7707 for more information or checkout our website to see all the available animals! www.tcrascolorado.com Vieques Humane Society - Vieques, Puerto Rico, a small island located off the mainland’s east coast, for many years offered no veterinary or animal rescue services. During the early 1980’s, a handful of concerned immigrants from the states and a few local residents took a serious interest in improving the welfare of the animals. They began by feeding the island’s multitudinous strays and soliciting the help of veterinarians from Puerto Rico to sterilize them. By 1987, the Vieques Humane Society and Animal Rescue, Inc. was officially established as a non-profit organization. Today they still offer the only veterinary services on the island and have developed strong community based programs.

See available dogs at www.viequeshumanesociety.org · CWWC will help you cover adoption fees - 719.687.9742

Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org

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Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center | PO Box 713 | Divide, CO 80814 | 719.687.9742 | www. wolfeducation.org