Indiana Arctic Rescue
In the spring of 2003 we were alerted to a situation in Indiana. A woman had purposefully bred Mofassa and Ahkia, a brother and sister pair of high content arctic wolfdogs. Puppies were due any minute and she had failed to arrange for homes for the litter. With few placement prospects the breeder turned to Jill Moore-Porter, a nearby rescuer for help in placing the puppies. Jill had contacted us and we agreed to take in one of the puppies. Since we were also in the middle of the NAWA rescue we knew one was about all we could handle at the time.
When we arrived in Indiana we found the four puppies nestled together in a pile of straw in the barn. We found no conformity in the litter and two of the puppies were a piebald coloration not usually seen in wolfdogs. The severe inbreeding may be the cause for the odd coloration or there may very well be a piebald husky in the pedigree. All attempts at tracing the lineage have run into roadblocks so we will likely never know.
We found the recent rains had wrecked havoc with Mofassa & Ahkia's cage. Piles of straw had been thrown in to cover the ankle deep mud, but that did little to help the conditions. Ahkia was missing a huge chunk from the left side of her muzzle and her nose was badly disfigured due to a fence fight with another dog, but considering the conditions she and Mofassa both looked healthy and strong although they were both very stressed given a number of strangers were wandering around their cage.
Before heading back to Colorado with our precious cargo we discussed the breeder's plans for the future and were pleasantly surprised to hear her promise to spay Ahkia so this would never happen again. At that time we also let the breeder know we would be happy to help her place any and all her wolfdogs should she decide to leave the breeding arena. Then we headed home with Tok, our little male and a second male pup we would be fostering for a friend in NV.
Mofassa and Ahkia as we found them in 2003 in Indiana
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Tok
As Tok continued to grow and mature we never forgot about his parents, Mofassa and Ahkia. Fortunately, the breeder did keep her promise to spay Ahkia before she could have another litter of inbred puppies. In July, 2004 Jill contacted us once more. The conditions had worsened and the breeder had admitted to being in over her head with all the wolfdogs. She was now ready to place most of them. So we were off to Indiana once again.
Upon our arrival we found the siblings had been moved to a smaller cage full of broken pallets with exposed nails to keep them out of the ankle deep excrement and mud. The stench was unbelievable. The animals were dehydrated and severely malnourished. In general, both animals were in horrible condition. They were both much scrawnier than they had been the year before. In fact, none of the animals looked good at all. Many were obviously suffering from a number of ailments. Most of the remaining wolfdogs were rehomed within days of our trip to Indiana.
Ahkiah and Mofassa as we found them in 2004
After 22 hours in the van they were ready to stretch their legs and investigate their new home. As they were released in our quarantine pen they trotted side by side in circles for a few minutes as they took in all the new sights and smells
Then Ahkia began to scent roll all over the place to mark her new territory.
She was loving the dry, clean dirt!
We gave them a few days to settle into their new home and then our medical team went to work. We restrained them to once again check their vitals and do blood work. Tests confirmed that both siblings had heartworm and had to go through the long treatment for it.
At least the treatment gave us the opportunity to get close and bond with Ahkia and Mofassa.
After three long months both Ahkia and Mofassa were finally heartworm free and had gained enough muscle strength to be relocated to their permanent habitat. Today, they are both happy and healthy.
