New Mexico Animal Sanctuary Seeking to Purchase Lake George Nature Center
Trevor Phipps
Photos Courtesy of Indigo Mountain Nature Center and Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary
Ever since the wolf reintroduction bill was narrowly passed by voters in 2020, the issue has launched heated debates across the state, with tensions igniting between government officials and ranch owners.
With concerns arising after the first wolves were reintroduced, the subject has become one of the most controversial issues ever to confront the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency.
But while much of turmoil surrounds wolves in the wild, many locals love wolf-dog pets and have a special affinity for wolves in captivity. In fact, Colorado is known as a hot spot for animal sanctuaries, especially ones that focus on wolves and wolf hybrids.
As a result, a New Mexico animal sanctuary has launched a massive effort to save a local nature center that houses rescued wolf-dog hybrids. This occurred after sad news circulated regarding the longtime owner passing away, placing the center’s future in doubt. However, despite having a grand desire to save the sanctuary and the animals housed in it, the non-profit organization still needs quite a bit of help from the public to accomplish their grandiose goal.
Last July, Sue Cranston the Executive Director of the Indigo Mountain Nature Center (that launched in 1999 and is located west of Lake George near Eleven Mile Reservoir) passed away at age 64 after battling with cancer. Now, the futures of the 25 wolf dogs living at the center are uncertain.
“Essentially what had happened was, the summer of last year an announcement went out to the wolf and wolf dog rescue community saying that Sue Cranston the founder of Indigo Mountain Nature Center passed away,” the Executive Director of New Mexico’s Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, Brittany McDonald said. “But in that same announcement it said, ‘But don’t worry her partner Carol (Scarborough) is going to continue running the sanctuary.’ And then just a couple months later, we at Wild Spirit received an e-mail from the Indigo Mountain board of directors saying, ‘Would you be able to place any of our 25 wolf dog rescues?’”
This was bad news for McDonald and the Wild Spirit staff after thinking everything was taken care of after Cranston’s death. The fact is, the options for rehoming wolf dogs are very limited.
“Wild Spirit is the biggest permanent placement wolf and wolf dog sanctuary in North America, and we at the time had no space for new rescues,” McDonald explained. “And, I knew that most of the facilities in the country were kind of in the same boat.”
After running out of all other options in her head, McDonald came up with the idea to have Wild Spirit incorporate Indigo Mountain so that the wolves could stay where they are. The Indigo Mountain board members liked the idea, but there was a major hurdle to McDonald’s plan as the non-profit doesn’t own the 37-acre plot of land where the nature center is located. Sue’s partner now does.
Wild Spirit’s Win-Win Plan
McDonald then went to Scarborough with the proposal, but the property owner said she still owed a mortgage on the property and she would have to sell it for the plan to work. Another issue was that Indigo Mountain was licensed by the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA), but it is not currently USDA licensed, and thus, is not open to the public.
Therefore, McDonald was tasked with setting a goal of raising $1.5 million to acquire the Indigo Mountain Property for $715,000 and pay for the upgrades required to the cages to open it up to the public. “If we don’t take action now, we’re not only putting these wolf dogs’ lives at risk but also losing an invaluable resource for future rescues right here in our own backyard. Together, we can ensure a future for these animals,” McDonald said.
McDonald said that Wild Spirit is open to the public so that they can educate people about the animals. However, with the sanctuary’s remote location in New Mexico it takes most visitors an hour or two one way to get there.
McDonald believes that if she can open Indigo Mountain up to the public, it would help Wild Spirit’s mission of educating the public as Lake George is located in between Colorado’s two biggest metropolitans, Denver and Colorado Springs. Therefore, the proposed acquisition would not only save the 25 wolf dogs, it would help Wild Spirit gain exposure from a larger population than it has to draw from now.
Moreover, If Wild Spirit successfully acquires Indigo Mountain, both of the organizations could expand their facilities to take in more rescued animals and educate a greater number of visitors. “Especially because Colorado just did a reintroduction of wild wolves, they are a pretty hot button topic,” McDonald said. “We would really like to monopolize on the opportunity to teach people not only about wolves and wolf dogs that are in captivity, but also their importance out in their native habitat, especially around Colorado, but around the rest of the world too.”
So far, the organization’s efforts have raised over $200,000 towards their goal, but they still have a ways to go. McDonald said that the organization is still taking donations and for more information on how to help the cause, visit wildspiritwolfsanctuary.
