The wolf-goddess Rumina suckled orphaned Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome. But in other fables, the big bad wolf huffed and puffed and blew the three little pigs’ house down.
Wolves are protective and nurturing parents to their cubs but take a dim view of mankind’s intrusions, namely the houses, farms and ranches that have pushed wolves to the outermost margins of their original ranges. As for huffing and puffing, they don’t take kindly to confinement.
Ree Merrill, Director of Development for the Wolf Connection in Acton, says, “Native American narratives tell us that humans learned compassion from wolves. Teo Alfero, President of the nonprofit Spring of Evolution and Wolf Connection’s founder, wrote a book about it called ‘The Wolf Connection: What Wolves Can Teach Us about Being Human’.”
Merrill describes the organization’s work as sacred. The Web site explains the mission further: “Activate: Open hearts to a sense of belonging as individuals and collectively as a global whole; Impact: Radically change lives, wolf and human, in stewardship of the Earth; Rescue: Provide enriching sanctuary to captive wolves and wolf-dogs.”
Calling contact and interaction with their canines “rich medicine for modern lives,” the Wolf Connection experience has particular appeal for those for whom conventional shrink-rap (talk therapy) simply doesn’t work. This may include veterans experiencing PTSD, traumatized and marginalized youth, and individuals with disabilities. The goal is to allow a direct relationship with wolves to help these individuals build their self-confidence, communicate more clearly with others, and find their place in the great family of being.
One immersive 10-week program offered by Wolf Connection called Women & Wolves invites women literally to run with the wolves and experience the wild magic of the feminine as part of a pack experience. Other programs are tailored to at-promise (formerly called “at-risk”) youth, minors currently in the foster care system, and individuals who have recently been released from incarceration.
“Wolves and dogs do share some common ancestry,” says Merrill, “but wolf energy is quite different from a dog’s. Teo says that dogs see you as their pack leader, while wolves see you as their equal. Although there is a pack leader, the social order is circular, not a ladder or pyramid as some people think. Leaders and followers share roles. Wolves don’t care where you’ve been or what you’ve done. All they know is who you are today, who you are showing up as today. This lack of judgment is one reason that they are great teachers.”
Wolf Connection currently is home to 44 wolves (actually wolf-dog hybrids) on the rambling 165-acre property. The animals come to the sanctuary primarily from owners who surrender them when the going gets tough, meaning that the wolf-dogs became so miserable in captivity and isolation that they “acted out” behaviorally or escaped to try and be with their pack.
Of the current pack, three were rescued from a fox fur farm, and one was rescued from life at the end of a chain as part of a roadside attraction. Because they were raised by humans (however badly they were treated) and now are fed by humans, these long-limbed, golden-eyed beasts would be unable to survive in the wild.
“Most rescues have some history of trauma, abuse and neglect,” says Merrill. “People can say the same. It’s relative from person to person, but we all have been through something, and experiencing the resiliency of wolves can be enormously empowering and joyful.” Programs may include hikes with wolves, connecting with the wolves one-on-one, meditation, sound baths, retreats, and Medicine Wheel work.
We caught up with Altadena resident Gita Murthy over a cuppa last week and learned that she’s a wolf-mother of twin sons (just like Rumina) who howls the praises of Wolf Connection. She’s a CEO of Gita Murthy Consulting where she calls herself “a golddigger for good.” She’s also a licensed clinical social worker with a Master’s degree in public health, helming her organization “…dedicated to improving public systems to promote well-being in communities.”
“We are in a crisis,” says Murthy. “A mental health crisis. It affects everyone, of course, even children, especially children of color and what are called systems-impacted youth.”
Murthy says that COVID was not the cause. Still, the pandemic blew the top off a long-simmering crisis marked by inadequate resources, outdated and disconnected public programs, and pervasive social stigma. She advocates for strategic partnerships between philanthropy, government, and healthcare providers, which urgently address the needs of communities in crisis.
She describes meeting a wolf-dog whose vocal cords were cut, presumably to silence the ancestral howling which has been part of the lupine DNA at least since the Pleistocene period when the first gray wolf, Canis lupus, appeared in Eurasia about one million years ago.
“In addition to the cruelty of that situation,” Murthy reflects, “I was deeply moved to see that wolf
throw its head back and make the only sound it could. It was not the same song as the wolves that still had their vocal cords, but it was still a song. That wolf made itself heard, and for a young person who feels they’ve been silenced, finding your voice and being heard, perhaps for the first time, is enormously powerful.”
Murthy points out that isolation and lack of social skills, these being lingering effects of COVID, often make conventional talk therapy ineffective, especially for troubled youth in the child welfare system. “They usually aren’t there yet,” she says. “For traditional talk therapy to work, you have to be able to process your experience verbally. With animal therapy, words are not needed. This aspect can be critical for children who have had to relive their trauma while bouncing from one foster home to another.”
“Animals are the real healers of the future,” she continues, “because they don’t judge us.” Of East Indian heritage, Murthy describes being bullied by white classmates as a girl growing up in rural Texas. “There was no cyber-bullying then. At least my home was a safe refuge. Now, social media is an immersion in constant judgment. It’s damaging, and we must rely on out-of-the-box solutions to rebuild our communities.”
Ree Merrill was experiencing a different sort of vulnerability when she found her way to Wolf Connection almost a decade ago. In 2015, Merrill discovered that she had breast cancer caused by the BRCA gene. After recovering from several surgeries, including a double mastectomy with multiple chemo sessions, she was called to volunteer her time and found Wolf Connection.
“As humans who go through trauma, we may ask ourselves, ‘Why me?’” she says. “I get it. I certainly felt that way at one point. What would I become when so much was taken from me? But when I witnessed Annie, a wolf who endured the amputation of one of her legs, I began to discover my own resilience. Annie had lost a limb but was still fierce, still a warrior. And she is not negatively defined by what she went through. She is a badass because of it. Sometimes our worst trauma can shed a light on our deepest strength.”
Here are this week’s dogs and cats in need of homes:
Click on photos to see larger images and captions.
