Mountain Spirit
Born on May 1, 1999 at Walsenburg, CO
Arrived at Mission: Wolf on May 1, 2003
Passed away on February 27, 2014
Sex: Female
Lived with Mowgli, Sangre, and Nokona
Did you know? It takes $3,000 a year just to feed and care for one of our wolves. By giving $5 or more a month, you can take a wolf to dinner by becoming a Wolf Caretaker.
Mountain Spirits’ Story
Mountain Spirit was sold to a man as a half wolf half German Shepard cross. She was bred with a Malamute dog for many years and her pups were sold as wolf hybrids. While staying at a hotel in Walsenberg, Colorado, Spirit’s owner was arrested on drug and domestic abuse charges, leaving Spirit, 7 newborn puppies and the male Malamute to which she was being bred in the hotel’s tennis court.
City officials called Mission: Wolf looking for help, but we didn’t have room for the animals. A month later, the puppies and the male had found homes, but Spirit was still living in the tennis court. She ended up running loose for some time and somehow managed to make it around town without getting shot or run over. Some kind people in Walsenburg found Spirit running loose and returned her to the tennis court. When the motel owner told us of her journey and pleaded with us to take her in, we agreed.
Upon her arrival in May of 2003, Spirit had little confidence and she would shy away from almost anything and anyone unfamiliar. We introduced her to an elder male wolf named Mowgli. The two almost immediately fell in love with each other. Mowgli taught Spirit to be more outgoing around strangers and not to bark as much at tours. After a couple of years of special attention from Mowgli and our staff, Spirit’s health greatly improved and she gained more of a spring in her step. Content with Mowgli, she spent many years keeping him company until his death at the end of 2009.
A few months after Mowgli’s death we introduced Spirit to a wolf hybrid name Sangre. The two hit it off almost immediately and could usually be heard happily bow-wowing at staff and visitors.