Inside the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania
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Asia Tabb
Aired; June 3rd, 2025.
Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation.
Tucked away in the wooded hills of Lititz, Pennsylvania, the Wolf Sanctuary of PA offers a permanent home to over 50 gray wolves and wolf dogs—animals too wild for domestic life and too misunderstood for most traditional shelters. Since its founding in 1980 by the Darlington family, the sanctuary has grown into both a rescue haven and a powerful educational resource, helping the public understand the complex nature of these majestic canines.
“We were founded in 1980 basically out of a love of wolves,” says Michelle Vanderneut, longtime staff member at the sanctuary. “We rescue often from household settings. People try to have them as pets. They really don’t belong in a home.”
The sanctuary’s origin story began with a change in Pennsylvania law that made it illegal to own exotic animals like wolves without strict permits and enclosures. Suddenly, families and individuals who had tried to raise wolves or wolf dogs as pets found themselves out of compliance and overwhelmed.“They started to get phone calls as other animals were being confiscated from illegal ownership,” Vanderneut explains. “So that’s always been our mission.”
Despite their desire to help, the sanctuary is careful not to overcrowd or compromise the quality of life for its residents. “We’re not gonna chop up their enclosures and make them really, really small so we can take in more rescues,” says Vanderneut. “We want to give them the quality of life here that they can have.”
Currently, the sanctuary is home to 55 wolves and wolf dogs, all of whom will live out their natural lives in large, wooded enclosures with at least one carefully selected companion. Wolves are highly social creatures, and the sanctuary places great emphasis on matching individuals based on personality and compatibility.
“Once they get through this hard part, they’re gonna feel much better,” Vanderneut says of the adjustment process. “When they have a companion that they can share their life with, it transforms their whole personality.”
