Providing free nature outings and adventures to youth who would other wise not have such opportunities, Boulder Valley ICO is entirely volunteer run.

See our new website for more information on our program.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Mission: Wolf Service Outing

Mission: Wolf is an all-volunteer organization that cares for 37 wolves who have been rescued from homes where they could not be cared for properly. Boulder Valley ICO led a 3-day, 2-night service outing to the Mission: Wolf sanctuary near Gardner, Colorado. The kids (from the recently revived Project YES!) helped in the butchering of a massive draft horse that had been donated to the facility. Then we fed the wolves by chucking chunks of horse meat into their pens. On the next day, we helped with a smaller, morning feeding by helping to prepare and deliver kibble, meat, and medications. Finally, we got to spend some time in an enclosure with three of the wolves. As you will see, a proper wolf greeting involves allowing the wolf to look you in the eye, smell your teeth, and lick you in the face. Thank goodness they have odorless breath!

Special thanks is due to the Sierra Club national directorate for donating special funds for this outing. With luck we'll run another such outing in the fall.  Thanks is also due to Mike Whiteley for arranging our visit to the sanctuary and to Caroline Hogue, Grant Irland, and Michael Le Desma for leading the outing. It was an outing that none of the participants will ever likely forget.

Note that this video contains footage of a horse being butchered.  Also note that on YouTube the video is in high definition so that it can be watched full-screen when you have set playback to 720p.


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