When It Is Time to Say Goodbye

Dear friends, family, colleagues, and fellow rescuers –

Plan B to Save Wolves and Wolfdogs began in late December 2016 with the idea of helping all organizations and individuals who rescued wolfdogs. It was a novel idea for this community, one organization to help all others with the passion and belief that to do good, we need a “us AND them” philosophy, not “us OR them,” a concept challenging for nonprofits as we all work to grow our own supporters and donors.

It wasn’t until late 2018 that the philosophy and our mission really came to the forefront with the High Desert Wolves (HDW) rescue. I genuinely believe our idea of helping everyone, including those most vilified, to save wolfdogs was the right idea, however naïve. However, I also believe it was my naivete that ensured the success of that rescue, resulting in saving 185 wolfdogs and puppies within approximately 70 days.

The rescue results continue today, the ripple effect and impact of such a traumatic yet rewarding ordeal changing lives forever.

From there, the requests for financial assistance for wolfdogs quickly escalated. However, we remained steadfast in our mission, to work to save wolfdogs, not to become embroiled in the issues that can often consume and ultimately destroy a community. Our integrity is intact as we have continued to save hundreds of wolfdogs over the last few years due to the generosity of our supporters, who trusted us to fulfill our mission.

With all of that said, Timon and I have decided to dissolve the organization. Despite our successes, we have decided to focus our efforts and priorities on advocacy instead of funding rescues. I would be lying if I said what we did was easy, as it was not. Constantly cultivating the garden of raising money for a never-ending crisis created fatigue not just with us but also with our supporters. It became no longer a mission of creating collaboration amongst breeders, rescues, and private owners, of trying to show by helping one we help all, of education and advocacy for wolfdogs, but rather a tireless struggle, and we have decided to let go.

Timon and I have deep gratitude for so many, and we would first love to thank our team from the past and those with us today. For all your incredible social media efforts and expertise, Tonya June Moore, Jessica Kole Maney, Laura Atwood, and Holly Eggleston. Mindy Mendelson for PR, marketing, and branding, Denise Brosseau for thought leadership, Joanne Kendrick for being the best right-hand volunteer I could ever have hoped for, and Rebecca Poling for amazing grounded and strategic guidance with development and foundation efforts. We also thank our Board Matt Francis and Sally Seeley for their generosity and guidance. You are all fantastic, and we could not have succeeded without you.

We would love to thank all of our friends and family who have supported us since our inception, including our donors and volunteers, adopters, and rescuers who helped save so many lives. In addition, we have deep appreciation and gratitude for our incredible mentor and dear friend Susan Weidel and our partners in so many ways, Paula Ficara and Steve Wastell of Apex Protection Project.

Finally, I want to thank my husband, Timon. Plan B was brought to life by him as he took an idea I had, named it, created the logo, and presented it to me one day over lunch in Sedona. The rest is history. Timon has supported me at every step, celebrating the victories and, in certain moments, helping me remember to have hope when I felt there was none.

Looking back over the last five and a half years, it is so easy and human to remember the disappointment and challenges first. Yet, despite that, those moments and feelings are far outweighed by our success: the hope, the joy, the love, the sense of accomplishment, joining a community for a common passion, staying true to our integrity, and all the wolfdogs alive today because of Plan B.

In gratitude and love -
B&T