According to The Washington Post, the 29 wolf hybrid dogs rescued from Wolf Country USA, a tourist attraction outside of Palmer, are doing better since moving to California, and in their recovery, they're helping troubled military veterans.
Alaska State Troopers and state game officials raided Wolf Country USA in June 2011 and filed criminal charges against its owners. In December of that year, the wolf hybrids were sent to Lockwood Animal Rescue Center in Frazier Park, Calif., about 75 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
In the three months since arriving at Lockwood, the animals have made progress toward good health. Two individuals had to have embedded chains surgically removed from their necks, and most of them went lame while learning to walk and run after being restrained for nearly all of their previous lives.
Having trouble adjusting to a new life is something Lockwood's foreman Stanley McDonald can relate to. McDonald, one of three military veterans caring for the hybrid dogs under a the program "Warriors and Wolves," is a 10-year Navy veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His problems have been compounded by an addiction to alcohol.
"I get along with the wolves," he said. "They've been in a bad situation, which I've been in most of my life. Most of them are afraid, taken away from the only thing they knew."
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