Refuge Ridge home to big, but not so bad wolves

They’ve got a pretty bad reputation. You remember the children’s nursery rhymes.
One of their ancestors ate Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother or so the story goes. Another blew down the homes of the first two little pigs before he got to the one made out of brick.
At first glance, they look pretty intimidating too. The males weigh in between 70 and 110 pounds, and are five to six and one half feet long. Don’t forget the 42 teeth.
Marti Wilson, president of Refuge Ridge, promises that the 16 wolf dogs at Refuge Ridge are nothing like what you’ve heard about in the fairy tales though.
In fact, they tend to run the other direction when strangers first walk up.
“People think they would be good watch dogs, and that they would be fierce, but they are so shy. These are not watch dogs,” Wilson said.
Any concern the neighbors had at first quickly dissipated after seeing the animals, and now the neighbors are some of the shelter’s best volunteers, she added.
“After people saw them, and how they were, we didn’t have any difficulty,” Wilson said.
Marti Wilson remembers when she and her mother, Gerri Vanover, first set foot on Refuge Ridge, which is located between Emlyn and Pleasant View.
It had been ravaged by unrestricted logging, illegal dumping, four wheeling, and mining.
Many hours of volunteer work later, and the land has been at least partially restored.
Marti and Ward Wilson initially purchased the 247 acres of land that is Refuge Ridge with plans to use it as a summer and day adventure camp for children.
Those plans are still in the works. They’ve just been expanded a little bit to include a wolf dog rescue.
“Our main goal is to get low impact adventure based camping started for kids to come in the summer free of charge, and be able to experience the outdoors,” she said.
“Really, our goal all along was to be able to impact kids, and help the community and environment.”
The wolf dogs, or hybrid wolves, was more of a side project that was taken on by Refuge Ridge. At the moment at least, it’s probably Refuge Ridge’s biggest claim to fame.
Marti Wilson, whose day job is working as a teacher at Williamsburg Independent School, said she always had pictures of exotic animals.
One day someone told her about three wolf dogs, which were starving to death in Woodbine, and about to be destroyed.
At first, Wilson figured the animals were Siberian Huskies, but when she found the animals she discovered that they were in fact wolf dogs or hybrid wolves that were literally starving.
Topanga was so weak that she could only stand for short periods of time. Kia and her sister, Couie, weighed only 37 pounds.
“They are wolf dogs or wolf hybrids because all of them probably have been bred for profit,” Wilson noted.
Few are pure bred. The wolf dogs have at least some dog in them.
She said that while some people will breed the animals claiming that they may be 75 or 80 percent pure bred, that the only way of actually telling would be through DNA testing.
97 percent of all exotic bred animals, including wolf dogs, are destroyed within the first year.
People often get the wolf dogs for their back yards, but the animals often get out of the enclosures if they don’t follow USDA guidelines, which call for over hangs among other things.
Out of fear, many will shoot the animals.

Open for tours
Refuge Ridge has had visitors from several states, including, Texas, Ohio, Maine, Iowa, Florida, Illinois, and Louisiana among others.
It is normally open for tours on Saturday and Sunday between 2 and 4 p.m.
“If people call us and want a special tour, we will take them,” she added.
In the summer months, Wilson said Refuge Ridge has provided tours for several groups, such as the Appalachian Women’s Alliance.
When groups come up to see the wolf dogs, they view and pet the animals through their enclosures.
Wilson said Kia is the only wolf dog that they bring out for people to pet.
Refuge Ridge officials also take Kia, the ambassador of the group, on field trips to places like the Whitley County Public Library and the 4-H Camp.

Other services
Saving wolf dogs isn’t the only thing on the Refuge Ridge agenda.
Through numerous grants, Refuge Ridge has helped get 209 dogs and 86 cats spayed or neutered.
Refuge Ridge has also been able to work with kids through conflict resolution, appreciation of diversity role playing, and compassionate treatment of companion animals.
In the past, Refuge Ridge has also offered assessment of drinking water through water testing.

Volunteer based
Refuge Ridge has a base of seven non-paid volunteers.
In addition, the group has received assistance from several other volunteers, including nearby neighbors.
“The neighbors have become our biggest help. They helped us put up the enclosures and built the pond for us,” Wilson said.
Through volunteer donations, the group has been able to put up enclosures for the wolf dogs, complete with overhangs to keep the animals from escaping.
One enclosure is named in honor of Circuit Judge Paul Braden and his wife, Kathy, who have made numerous donations, and have owned a wolf dog themselves for several years.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison is on the Refuge Ridge Advisory Board.
Wilson said getting water and electricity run to the site has been the group’s biggest unmet challenge.
The area is serviced by Jellico Electric, but it will cost about $2,000 to get electric lines run to the facility.
Refuge Ridge is currently applying for a grant to run electricity to the facility, and in hopes of hiring a full-time worker.

Wolf dog facts
In the wild, wolf dogs can live up to 13 years, but usually only survive for six to eight years. The animals can live up to 16 years in captivity.
Wolf dogs usually run in packs of six to eight, although the pack size can be as little as two or more than 30.
Wolf dogs can travel up to 25 to 35 miles per hour over short distances, and their common food is deer, moose, elk, bison, musk oxen, and beaver.
The main threats to the survival of the animals is loss of habitat due to destruction, development, and encroachment by humans, in addition to persecution by humans.
To learn more about Refuge Ridge call 549-0648.