Our Philosophy on Owning Wolves
  

Big Oak Wolf Sanctuary is a “true” wolf sanctuary in that we do not exhibit the rescued wolves or subject them to the health destroying life of enduring public exhibition, i.e., public tours for a fee. Furthermore, our position is that wolves should not be captive-bred and sold to people as pets. Until this stops, we will continue our efforts to provide the best life possible for those we’re able to rescue.

The Rationale Behind Our Position on Wolf and Wolfdog Ownership

Although not popular among the wolf and wolfdog owners—and in spite of the fact that there are many very good and highly competent people all over the world who own wolves and provide wonderful lives for them—we do not believe that wolves or high content wolfdogs should be owned or controlled in any way by people. This is a complex issue and one on which our position has brought about animosity of wolf owners. But our position on this issue is based on many years of rescuing these wonderful animals and is therefore firm! However, out of respect to all involved, we’ll share the rationale behind our position.

Caring for wolves is not like caring for big dogs, not even close. Properly caring for wolves requires a level of maturity and responsibility comparable to that of caring for a developmentally disabled child. In addition to knowledge and experience, owning wolves requires a level of selflessness that enables owners to be more focused on the needs of their wolves than their own. In short, properly caring for these animals involves a considerable sacrifice.

The Big Misconception—Education

There are many who believe that education is the key to successful ownership of wolves and high content wolfdogs. This is a huge misconception with one fatal flaw. First of all, we acknowledge that education is vital to understanding how to properly care for wolves and high content wolfdogs, i.e., learning how to properly interact with them, creating the proper environment and living conditions, learning how to accommodate their needs based on exactly who and what they are, and infinitely more. But while education does in fact produce knowledge, it DOES NOT and CANNOT develop maturity, responsibility, empathy, compassion, selflessness, or love—the core attributes for owning one of these majestic creatures

If these attributes are not either naturally in a person, or ingrained in them during their upbringing, they may—or may not—be acquired later in life. If they are, it’s often through a long process that takes place during their journey through the difficulties of life, i.e., personal struggles, personal loss, experiencing the consequences of one’s actions, behavior, and decisions, and possibly the most productive, having to endure extended periods physical and emotional pain.

It is through these life experiences that the human heart is developed, thus enhancing one’s sensitivity to the potential pain and discomfort of others—this includes that of animals! Without a developed heart, the education often becomes self-serving knowledge used by “insecure, ego-maniacal” people to sound “knowledgeable” and accomplish their real goal—to be viewed as “The Wolf Expert” by others, i.e., “Hey look at me.”

In this scenario, the owners’ immature, insecure, ego-maniacal, self-seeking, and insensitive hearts prevent them from focusing on the deeper needs of the animals on which they enjoy their reputation as an expert, because their primary focus is on themselves—how they’re perceived by their peers. These aren’t “bad people,” per se; they’re just at a place in their lives where everything is still all about them—we’ve all been there!

So, unless the educational seeds collected by the mind are planted in the fertile soil of a mature, responsible, and compassionate heart, they cannot produce the fruit of proper care for these awesome animals. In short, you can educate someone’s brain, but you can’t develop their heart. So, while we feel education is a key component to owning wolves and high content wolfdogs, we consider a developed heart to be the “core component” in owning them.

Glamorization

As a large rescue, many animals arrive here afraid and in poor health. So upon arrival, we make an initial social media post showing the animal’s condition and demeanor. Then over the following weeks, we post pictures and videos of them to show our donors and followers the progress they’re making in our care. But unfortunately, the videos of the wolves showing us love and affection also bring out the “I want one” comments—revealing how easy it is for our social media posts to send the wrong message about owning wolves.

As stated above, the allure of owning a wolf is the most powerful people who are still too immature, irresponsible, insecure, and self-centered to properly care for them. Unlike mature adults, their young, more self-focused minds tend to process wolf ownership (having a wolf) as something that’s going to give them the level of respect they so desperately want from their peers. For this reason, we have to be mindful of the seeds we plant in others’ minds about wolves and wolf ownership. So, when posting pictures and videos to show our donors and followers the progress of the “rescued” wolves and wolfdogs, we do are best to not indirectly promote wolf ownership by glamorizing our interactions with them.