A Larimer County wolf sanctuary says it has been ordered to tear down newly built fences on its property or face possible closure.
County officials want the fences removed by Friday or they could schedule a hearing on whether the sanctuary’s special permit should be revoked.
Wolves Offered Life and Friendship, or WOLF, has rallied its supporters, who are sending large numbers of e-mails and letters to Colorado media outlets and the county.
Rob Helmick of the county planning department told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that a building permit is needed for the fences because they are more than 6 feet high and permanent, and are outside the 5-acre area designated for the sanctuary by its special permit.
WOLF co-founder Frank Wendland said Saturday the additional four fenced enclosures took a year and a half to build and that there is no way he’ll have time to tear them down before the deadline.
The empty enclosures were built in anticipation of getting more wolves, but Wendland says he’s never exceeded the 30-wolf limit originally agreed between him and the county.
Wendland said the fences do not need building permits because the facility is an agricultural use as defined in the county land-use code. But Helmick told the Coloradoan: “They need a building permit — it’s that simple.”
Wendland said in the 7 ½ years the WOLF sanctuary has been in operation, it has never had issues concerning complaints from neighbors except one recently who refused to say why he was against it. He said he’s given tours of the sanctuary to three neighbors after county officials requested it.
The WOLF sanctuary is about 20 miles northwest of Fort Collins on 180 acres in a mountainous and remote location that is “great for animals,” Wendland said.
The wolves are tended to by Wendland, who lives at the sanctuary, and by four staff members. Some of the wolves serve as ambassador animals and are taken out to educate organizations or anyone interested in wolves.
“Wolves are very misunderstood, you can look into their eyes and see a sentient being, not just some dumb animal,” Wendland said.
“They’re not vicious like the Little Red Riding stories say they are.”
