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Providing sanctuary, and education Photos by Jim Craven A wary male Mexican wolf trots through the compound at the Howling Acres wolf sanctuary in Williams. The LaBats want wolves to have a place to grow old By Jim Davis WILLIAMS -- The howling begins when cars come up the driveway. Just one or two wolves at first, then together, with their backs arched and their noses to the sky. But do they howl at the moon? "No, that's just a myth," said Sherrie LaBat of Williams. "But that's the No. 1 question we get." She and Charlie LaBat have collected and cared for wolves for years. Now, they are trying to turn their hobby into a wolf sanctuary called Howling Acres. The LaBats have filed for nonprofit status with the Internal Revenue Service. They've set up a Web page, are offering $5 tours and are building a small amphitheater and gift shop with the help of volunteers. They want the sanctuary to be a home for the wolves and a place for people to learn about the animals. "That's my goal," Sherrie LaBat said, "to give them (the wolves) a place to live for the rest of their lives." Sherrie LaBat, co-owner of Howling Acres, gets a kiss from Charlie, a timber wolf. This week, state and federal officials didn't know much about Howling Acres and questioned whether the animals are actually pure-bred. Even so, officials said that the sanctuary could be a good place if the LaBats are providing a safe home. "If they're going to keep those wolves in captivity that's a fine thing to do," said Roy Heberger, a field assistant in Boise, Idaho, with the U.S. Deptartment of Fish and Wildlife. "It can be a good educational opportunity." Howling Acres is one of only two sanctuaries licensed by the state government, said Bruce Pokarney of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The license allows the LaBats to keep exotic animals. However, he said, the department doesn't have requirements for what is and what is not a sanctuary. Howling Acres is a low-key operation. A small sign points the way to the gravel driveway at 555 Davidson Road in Williams. The wolf pens are across a dirt road from the LaBats' mobile home. They keep six adult wolves and two wolf cubs -- with colorful names like Spike and Annie. Two wolves are in each compound, with the cubs in a smaller fenced area. The LaBats said it's easier to handle and feed the animals that way. The wolves each eat about 20 pounds a day, a mixture of dog food, meat donated by a dairy and road kill. The LaBats put up a wooden railing along the outside of the pens and carved a trail with wood chips through the property. The LaBats said they got their first wolf -- Myee -- when they lived in Wolf Creek in 1985. A friend decided that he couldn't handle the animal and gave it to the LaBats. Sherrie LaBat said she has tried to learn as much as she can about the animals and has cared for 18 wolves during the past 14 years. The LaBats moved to Williams in 1992. The newest wolf -- Beasely -- was brought in just this week after it was picked up from a family along the Oregon-California border. Beasely still has a collar around his neck and is partially blind. The LaBats said the wolves have subtle characteristics -- such as ears that point up -- that reveal that they are pure-bred. It's not that simple, said Ken Goddard, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Ashland. Goddard said the forensics laboratory is trying to find a genetic test that will determine whether an animal is a wolf. Physical characteristics can be deceiving, he said, because there's been so much cross-breeding among dogs, coyotes and wolves. The LaBats have gotten most of their wolves from people who had them as pets. Sherrie LaBat said Wildlife Images, the Grants Pass wildlife rehabilitation center, has referred people to them. Barbara Rossman of Wildlife Images said they do refer animals to Howling Acres as well as other places around the region. "They seem to really care for wolves," Rossman said of the LaBats. Rossman said people often take in young wild animals and discard them when they get too big. "Why do they want to make cougars and bobcats pets?" Rossman said. "I guess it's because they're wild animals." Sherrie LaBat said some people like the idea of raising wolves -- until they start raising them. "It's all for a name," Sherri LaBat said. "You can't believe how many people have come up to me and told me they have a wolf. They just have to have that name." LaBat said she would like to eventually return some of the animals to the wild. That can't be done, said Heberger, who is in charge of the wolf reintroduction program in Idaho. Animals that have lived around and been fed by people would not do well in a reintroduction program. But he said there is a need to take care of such animals. Sherrie LaBat, a technician at Providence Medford Medical Center, said she and her husband aren't trying to make money with the $5 fee for tours, but they are trying to pay some of the costs of keeping the wolves. The LaBats sought nonprofit status this year to be eligible for grants and donations. They formed a board of directors for the nonprofit corporation they propose to create. They have already given tours to a small number of people, with three groups stopping by on Mother's Day. "Someday my goal is to quit my job and work out here full time," Sherrie LaBat said. "This is where my heart is, with the wolves." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA