Initially taken to the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre, Vimy, who was named by the Armed Forces member who both hit him and rescued him, is going into surgery for two broken legs on Wednesday and expected to be released back into the wild this summer
A wolf whose back legs were both broken in a motor vehicle incident on Saturday is slated to go under the knife on Wednesday at the National Wildlife Centre in Caledon East.
Shortly thereafter, the young male wolf is expected to be transported north to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary east of Rosseau for a monthlong recovery.
“After the break heals we need to move him into a bigger outdoor space to make sure he can walk around, run and hunt,” Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary animal welfare assistant director Mon Keldsai told Sudbury.com.
If all goes according to plan, the wolf will be released back to the location he was found, off of Highway 17 in Hagar, sometime this spring or summer.
Animals brought in during the winter are typically released after it has warmed up outside so there’s more prey available to aid in their recovery, Keldsai explained.
The wolf was struck by a vehicle on Saturday evening by a motorist identified on the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre’s Facebook page only as Blake.
Described as “kind-hearted” on the Facebook page, Blake followed the injured animal, who crawled off the highway and wedged himself under an old vehicle.
Two OPP constables arrived on scene shortly afterward and helped Blake reach out to the Val Caron-headquartered Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre rather than dispatch the animal.
Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre personnel responded an hour later, according to their Facebook post, and maneuvered the “terrified” young wolf out of its hiding spot and into a secure enclosure.
“The extraction would not have been possible without their help,” the Facebook post noted of Blake and the two OPP constables. “Thanks to their dedication and persistence in freezing temperatures, the wolf is now in good hands.”
The 60-pound wolf was treated for shock upon his arrival at the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre, and by the next morning “was bright and alert.”
He was then taken to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, and later the National Wildlife Centre for his surgery.
This is the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre’s first-ever wolf patient, and Keldsai said that Aspen Valley receives an average of one wolf per year.
Blake is a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, and asked that the wolf be named Vimy, after a military police working dog who died in 2021.
That police dog, in turn, was named after the First World War Battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place in France from April 9-12, 1917, and saw 3,598 Canadians killed and approximately 7,000 wounded.
Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre is a completely volunteer-run organization founded by Gloria Morisette and based in Val Caron. They rely on public support for funding.
Last year, Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre reported 820 animal intakes consisting of 64 species, who were aided by a volunteer complement of 25.