Castiel was found in a small Los Angeles suburb.
The local residents that stumbled upon him believed he was just another stray dog.
Although even for a stray dog, Castiel wasn’t doing very well. Underweight, infested with parasites, and losing a lot of fur due to mange, Castiel was in pretty bad shape, but thankfully the local residents quickly called up a local shelter to help him.
The shelter rushed to pick up Castiel and begin medical treatment, but that’s when they found out that Castiel wasn’t just a normal dog.
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It turns out Castiel was actually a wolf-dog hybrid. Unfortunately, wolf-dog hybrids have special requirements for housing them which meant that he could not stay in the shelter.
Now the shelter had a problem, because they could not keep him, but if they didn’t find him a home quickly, Castiel would have to be put down.
Wolf-dogs are just as closely related to wolves as they are to dogs, which means that they are tricky to find a home for. The vast majority of people are unable to provide the wide open spaces they need. This means that they needed a special place for Castile, but where?
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Luck was on Castile’s side as the shelter was able to contact an organization called W.O.L.F. Sanctuary, which specializes in wolf-dogs. Located in Colorado, W.O.L.F. Sanctuary is able to provide full wolves and wolf-dog hybrids with the wide open spaces they need to thrive.
When Castiel was found, he was wearing a makeshift collar, which indicated to rescuers that he may have actually be kept as a pet.
Unfortunately, his skittish behavior and undernourishment meant that his home wasn’t a good one. A rough start for anyone, but especially hard for a wolf-dog who is already facing a lot of struggles.
When he was taken to the local shelter the rescuers learned that Castiel was roughly a year old, but then they also learned that he was part wolf. Due to the laws, the shelter was unable to house him and Castiel needed to be placed in a special facility as soon as possible or else he would need to be put down.
The local California sanctuaries were unable to take Castiel in, but then the W.O.L.F. (which stands for Wolves Offered Life and Friendship) Sanctuary stepped in and offered to take him to their Colorado based facility. The staff at the shelter were relieved.
Unfortunately, due to his previous home, Castiel was terrified of the rescuers. His only interaction with them, was to sit in the corner, terrified.
But due to quick thinking and good training, the staff at the shelter were able to bathe and treat some of Castile’s problems. Both were desperately needed as Castiel was suffering from a bad case of mange and a bunch of nasty parasites.
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But Castiel had a different name at this point. He was given a temporary name by the shelter, “New Boy”. However during his recovery, W.O.L.F. sanctuary decided to give him a more permanent name and decided to hold a naming contest. The winner was, of course, “Castiel”.
Castiel is a reference to the show Supernatural, being the name of a character in the show who is an angel of resurrection.
The name was chosen because of his amazing recovery back to a healthy, happy, and adorable wolf-dog.
After only a short time, Castiel grew all of his fur back and returned to a normal, healthy weight.
It’s hard to believe this is the same dog from the above pictures!
Now that was Castiel was healthy again, it was time for Castiel to go into the sanctuary and meet his new wolf friends!
Unfortunately due to his bad home, Castiel didn’t know how to properly interact with other dogs and was very, very shy. He struggled to interact with humans as well. Castiel was isolating himself.
The staff had their work cut out for them as they tried to help Castiel establish a pack connection with the wolves living at the sanctuary.
Sanctuary life was still a huge upgrade for Castiel, though as he quickly enjoyed being outdoors.
As Castiel began to settle into the sanctuary, W.O.L.F. Sanctuary staff noticed signs of interest in the other animals from Castiel. Though he was still keeping his distance from his new friends. This was a good sign because it meant that he could be social in due time.
The staff thought about what would be the best way to help speed up this process and help Castiel feel a bit more at home. They ended up deciding that it would be best if they found Castiel a female companion.
They began to introduce Castiel to several female wolves, but unfortunately no connection seemed to be established. The staff then decided to try Castiel out with Tenali, a wolf-dog just like him. Tenali was about 3 years old and was rescued from Wisconsin.
Tenali was an energetic, but sweet wolf-dog. In fact, due to her energetic personality, she overwhelmed poor Castiel at first, but it seemed like the two had a connection.
Noticing that Castiel was a bit hesitant at first, Tenali decided to make her own fun and jumped inside of the water bucket.
Although Castiel was initially a bit shy, he began to quickly warm up to Tenali.
“After a couple of days, he started to realize that she wasn’t going to hurt him,” said Michelle Proulx the director of animal care at the W.O.L.F. Sanctuary. The two had quickly begun spending more and more time together.
Proulx continued, “He went from not having much and being alone for who knows how long to having this girl.”
After Castiel’s rough life, it’s hard not to blame him for being shy. However just like humans, all it takes is that special someone to help Castiel heal from his traumatic past.
If you would like to continue to hear about Tenali and Castiel’s adventures, you can check out the W.O.L.F. website.
Castiel’s health and happiness continue to improve thanks to Tenali and the staff over at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary. A truly heartwarming story!
If you want to see more wolf-dog stuff, then check out this related adorable video of a wolf-dog and a leaf blower!
[via The Dodo]