Build Habitats for Rescued Lions, Tigers, & Bears

There are few things in life that will ever prepare you for walking onto a fur farm.

In January 2025, the TWAS team traveled to Ohio to assist The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in rescuing animals abandoned at a recently defunct fur farm.

Upon our arrival, the scene was grim. Wherever our eyes landed there were piles of garbage, defunct sewing machines, broken toilets and more. Among the debris were live traps and leg hold traps, which made every inch of the property unsafe.

We scanned the property for two Wolf hybrids we had committed to rescue, as well as their five-week-old puppies who were previously separated from the parents by the fur farm’s owner. At the back of the property, we found the sweet pair of wolf hybrid parents pacing in a tiny wire cage, freezing metal walls enclosing them on all sides.

Within a short time, the county warden and the Rescue Director of HSUS arrived and helped load a crate of the Wolf hybrid parents, alongside a crate of their rescued puppies.

With the wolves secured, we began the 20-hour journey to Colorado, hoping to reunite them in a safer habitat. There was no guarantee that the parents would reclaim their young—fur farm parents are rarely given the chance to bond with their young.

Safe back at the Sanctuary, the parents and their pups shared adjacent habitats, slowly reintroducing them to their family’s sights and smells. When the door separating them finally lifted, sniffing ensued on all fronts, excitement building until the father Wolf laid down and gleefully allowed the puppies to attack his snow-white body from all angles. Their life as a family-based Wolf pack was being rekindled right before our eyes, as both the father and mother began to spend every waking moment caring for their young.

Soon, they transitioned to a spacious natural habitat, complete with underground dens and a pond—nothing like the cold, lifeless cages they had known. For the first time, they felt the earth beneath their paws. They ran, played, and embraced the freedom they had never known.

For Wolves Akira, Hida, Kylo, Kiba and Farah, their world has changed forever now that they are safe living here with us in wide-open habitats. It is a privilege to bear witness to their resilience and to be a part of their journey moving from darkness to light. Their story is a reminder as to why The Wild Animal Sanctuary exists and how your gift creates a tangible, lifesaving impact on the lives of rescued animals.

Read more about the eleven animals rescued from Mexico and the five wolf dogs rescued from a shutdown Ohio fur farm in our most recent newsletter found here: Newsletter Spring 2025

Links:

• Newsletter Spring 2025