The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary is asking the public for help after one of its newest residents came in with a broken hip.
“I personally came across (Lexi) – she came from an owner neglect situation,” explained Georgina De Caigny, director of Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary.
“She has a long recovery ahead … we are taking it one medical procedure at a time.”
Despite having no wolfdog content, Lexi the four-year-old husky joined the Yamnuska family two weeks ago with a severe bladder stone and a dislocated hip.
Lexi went through 24-hour surgery consisting of a cystotomy and an open reduction surgery for her dislocated hip last week and once healed, she will be booked for another medical procedure to have some bad teeth removed.
“If Lexi had some of her medical issues looked at right away, it wouldn’t have gotten to the point it was,” De Caigny explained.
“I want to remind people that animals feel pain and they have feelings and they deserve the same medical attention that other animals, even humans deserve – I think sometimes people think, ‘Oh it is just a dog, they’ll be fine’ but it’s not fair to put them through pain and suffering.”
With the two surgeries and a short stay at the Calgary Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) Centre, the staff at the sanctuary is looking to raise $16,000 – with $4,505 raised at press time.
“She is a very sweet and loving girl who loves nothing more than being indoors, around people, curled up on a dog bed. Lexi is a wonderful dog who very much deserves a second chance,” De Caigny explained in the GoFundMe description.
The non-profit sanctuary opened its doors in April 2014 as Alberta’s first and only official wolfdog sanctuary, housing 15 permanent residents. The sanctuary is sustained through fees from tours and donations. Donations help the staff feed, care for, transport and re-home adoptable wolfdogs, and gives the mid- to high-content wolfdogs a permanent home at the sanctuary.
Shelter staff are also asking anyone who is cleaning out their freezers with freezer-burnt meat to consider donating the meat to the sanctuary. Donations of any freezer-burnt meat that is frozen, uncooked and unseasoned is greatly appreciated.
To visit the wolfdog family, the sanctuary is 15 minutes from Cochrane, located on 160 acres west of Highway 1A off of Range Road 53.
For more information on Lexi and how you can help, go to gofundme.com/lexiyws.
To learn more, visit yamnuskawolfdogsanctuary.com.
