Howling for help: Florida woman expanding wolf sanctuary

Florida’s Fourth Estate

Wolves are beautiful animals, but if you want to have one as a pet, like the popular show “Game of Thrones,” you need to make sure you meet the minimum requirements.

Deanna Deppen, executive director of Shy Wolf Sanctuary Education and Experience Center in Naples, recently talked to Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate about the challenges she faces when people are not able to care for the wolves they adopt.

“Florida actually requires licensing, so you should not have a full wolf without having two and a half acres of land, 500 hours working with them, 10-foot fences and an 8-foot perimeter fence,” Deppen said.

Wolves need more space than your house can provide.

“In the wild, they can travel up to 120 miles per day, up to 40 miles per hour, and they have needs where they need to stay active.”

Wolf dogs, or dogs that are bred with wolves, can also pose unforeseen problems when people need to put them up for adoption.

“Shelters won’t adopt them out. They’ll put them down. Other rescues won’t take them—they consider them unadoptable, they just have nowhere else to go,” Deppen said.

That’s where her sanctuary comes in.

She said it has been around for a long time. Now, she is planning and preparing to move to a new 17-acre property.

The move will be expensive and the sanctuary is asking people to step in and help sponsor the animals, or even come in and volunteer.

To join the wolf pack, click here for more information.

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