A young man noticed a sign on a house in Tucson, Arizona that said “Free Puppy.”
He had been interested in adopting a dog and felt the “sign” was a sign! He knocked on the door and saw the puppy sitting there with his beautiful amber eyes and fluffy coat. It was love at first sight.
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
The 18-year-old decided to adopt the dog on the spot and brought him home. He named the pup Neo. Neo was a sweet boy but he was very skittish and would poop everywhere.
Anytime his owner left a room or needed to leave the house, Neo would cry and howl.
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
Neo’s owner put up a fence in the backyard to try and make him happy. The young man was a full-time college student and had no choice but to leave him for hours at a time.
Neo happily dug himself out from beneath the fence to play with the neighbor’s dogs. So his owner built a higher fence. That didn’t do much to hold Neo in either.
While Neo was showing off his intelligence and agility, he was also growing into his body. He was lanky with wolf-like markings. It all started adding up.
His distinctive eyes, his fur… Neo wasn’t a full dog, was he? It was especially obvious when Neo insisted on being with the neighbors’ dogs. He wasn’t just looking to play, he was aching for a pack.
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
Neo showed up in the neighbors’ yard time and time again and he eventually had enough. While Neo’s owner was at school, the neighbors drove Neo to a shelter at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. They didn’t know what else to do!
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
Soon after arriving at the shelter, Maureen O’Nell, the former CEO of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, remembered seeing Neo. Maureen told The Dodo:
“One morning, before our animal welfare campus opened to the public, I was outside with another staff member. I saw a couple walking a long-legged canine to the front door. It wasn’t his body composition that made me notice, but his behavior. Neo was completely avoidant of human interaction. The couple walking him seemed, as best as I can describe it, perplexed.”
Maureen knew that Neo was not what they had thought he was. She said, “I approached the couple and asked, ‘You know that isn’t a dog, right?’ They responded, ‘we were wondering.'”
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
She then quickly researched Arizona law to see what it said about wolf-dog ownership. Oh no!
It was against the law for them to take in Neo at the shelter unless they had a special permit. That’s when she made a very important call by reaching out to Wolf Connection.
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
Wolf Connection agreed to take Neo to their sanctuary where he could live happily… for good! They picked him up that same day! For health precautions, they kept Neo separated from the rest of the wolves the first night.
But something magical happened. When it was time for the pack’s nightly howl, Neo immediately joined in. It was a truly beautiful thing to witness.
Source: Wolf Connection, Neo’s Story
Neo is now living his best life at the sanctuary. He continues to thrive and loves being around his best wolf buddies. He’s really a gem.
Check him out in the video below. He even hangs out with human visitors! Gotta love a happy ending like this one!
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