Nestled in the grassy hills of western New Mexico in a community called Candy Kitchen is the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, a nonprofit that houses wolves, wolfdogs, New Guinea singing dogs, foxes and coyotes.
Founded in 1991 as The Candy Kitchen Wolf and Wolfdog Rescue Ranch, Wild Spirit is now raising funds to absorb the Indigo Mountain Nature Center, a nonprofit wolf and wildlife sanctuary based in Lake George, Colorado.
Wild Spirit has grown to become one of the largest canid sanctuaries in North America, according to Executive Director Brittany McDonald. It provides sanctuary for animals from across the country and uses their stories to educate the public, McDonald wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo.
McDonald is overseeing the project and has been running the sanctuary for four years. Before absorbing the Indigo Mountain Nature Center, Wild Spirit reached its maximum animal capacity and was only able to take in one animal this year, according to McDonald.
“By taking in Indigo Mountain, we not only save their current rescues, but have the capacity to continue taking in new animals with the additional space, funding and overall support that facility will bring,” McDonald wrote.
Expanding Wild Spirit’s capacity will save animal lives since its employees could care for more, according to McDonald.
Indigo Mountain has been a permanent placement facility for wolfdogs — similar to Wild Spirit — as well as black bears and several small exotic and wild animal species.
Indigo Mountain founders Sue Cranston and Carol Scarsborough established the nature center together in 1999, and they led the organization until Cranston’s death earlier this year, according to Indigo Mountain’s website.
Indigo Mountain's board of directors sent an email to Wild Spirit over the summer, asking McDonald if the sanctuary could take in some of the wolfdog rescues.
“Upon receiving this email, I reached out to propose an alternative option, knowing full well that the odds of finding sanctuary placement for 25 animals would be next to impossible,” McDonald wrote. “There are so few sanctuaries in the U.S., and most are already at capacity, Wild Spirit included.”
Because Indigo Mountain can house nearly 50 animals, closure of the sanctuary would have been a substantial loss to the animal rescue community, McDonald wrote. After expressing this concern, McDonald asked if they would consider dissolving Indigo Mountain into Wild Spirit, allowing the animals to remain in their home.
The future absorption of Indigo Mountain will support the current location in New Mexico, McDonald wrote.
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“By opening a second location nestled between Colorado Springs and Denver, we (will) have an opportunity to increase our impact for saving lives and educating people, and also for bringing in donations to support both the Colorado and New Mexico locations,” McDonald wrote.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article implied that Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary had already absorbed Indigo Mountain Nature Center. It has been updated to clarify that Wild Spirit is currently raising funds to absorb Indigo Mountain.
Maria Fernandez is a beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
