lucas – Jul 13, 2006 12:00 AM

Sorry for the delay in logs, as we always state, the first priority of all of our wolf care tasks is the task of caring for our wolves. As previous logs have shown, Lucas was having some difficulty with mobility and we were trying some painkillers, and he seemed to respond well, but as they wore off, he declined again. We were very cognitive of long-term use of painkillers and thinking that this was a response to the degenerative spine condition identified in an exam 2 – years ago, we tried to wean him of the pain killers after a week and replace them with steroids, with the intent that the anti-inflammatory would relieve the pain. Lucas did not respond to the transition, although he had individual days of improvement, his overall decline continued. Vital sign checks in the last few days of his life showed a strong heart, but a lowering body temperature. We placed straw in the den box to make him comfortable and give him an insulation effect. Our efforts in the last days were to spend time with him, make him comfortable and attempt to reduce his pain. Lucas's photo this week, shows the face of a wolf enjoying the attention. On the afternoon of July 11th, a status check of his temperature and an assessment of his mobility, as well as the look in his eyes, led us to make the decision that as managers, the most humane thing we could do, was to help ease his suffering. He held his head high, even as his legs gave out. He was surrounded by staff as first an injection of a standard immobilizer was given. He fell asleep in the straw bed in the corner of the exhibit, before he was carried to the adjacent vestibule, where he was euthanized. Board member, and friend of the wolf care program, Larry Anderson injected the final euthanasia dose, as staff members were inside the enclosure to distract Lakota and MacKenzie from the gate. After this week’s logs, Lucas will join a new pack, the Gone, but not Forgotten pack.