Community Spotlight

Walking Wild Rescue

By Gary Baker, Director of Marketing & Public Relations

We are always mindful to provide useful and informative information to our members in this magazine, and also keep an eye out for unique member businesses, nonprofits and hobbies that make for an entertaining and interesting read. That is what this story is about – a unique, non-profit organization ran by Energy Cooperative members, David and Molly Schulz. The Schulz’s live in rural Licking County. They rescue and save foxes and wolf dogs from unfortunate surroundings and give them a safe, healthy home to live for the rest of their lives.

Molly was a city girl from a congested area in northwest Columbus. David convinced her to move to 19 acres in Licking County by promising she could have any animal that she wanted. Molly agreed and David and their four-legged babies, including Maugrim their first wolf dog, made the move. Soon after Banjo, a captive bred fox rescued from a Minnesota fox rescue wolf dog sanctuary. Then Fiddle, a four and a half week old fox rescued from a fur farm, joined them. Through Banjo and Fiddle the Schulz’s developed a passion for saving and rescuing foxes and wolf dogs. They now own and operate Walking Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary.

In March of 2020, the Schulz’s rescued five foxes from a New York fur farm. Fast forward to today, they have a total of 35 foxes in their care. In the past two and a half months, they have also taken in nine baby foxes or “kits”.

The Schulz’s work with fur farmers across the United States to rescue foxes. The fur business in the U.S. is a billion-dollar industry. Fox fur, like bobcat and lynx fur, are popular with clothing designers around the world. David and Molly have no anger towards the fur farmer, and ultimately, try to have a good relationship with them so they can rescue animals. Molly hopes to see the fur trade phase out and regulations developed for foxes veterinary care and quality of life.

Since the animals at Walking Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary are non-wild captive bred animals, they can never be released into the true wild. Captive bred animals do not have the instincts they need to survive, so releasing them in the wild is a death sentence. The Schulz’s have discovered that many people mistakenly believe foxes make great house pets. In fact, these extremely energetic animals are nothing like a dog or a cat. Fox are very intelligent and curious animals. This does not make them great family members for most people due to the destruction their natural behavior can cause. This often takes new fox owners by surprise, and they end up not wanting to keep the animal. This is why an organization like Walking Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary is so crucial and important. They provide a safe haven for these animals to be raised and are a resource for fox and wolf dog education in the community and around the world.

Tinkerbell

The Licking County community has been so receptive and supportive. The support we get from restaurants, breweries, numerous charities and The Energy Cooperative is very exciting and encouraging.

-Molly Shulz

Kristoff

Walking Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary has a new 7,000 square foot building under construction. They are hopeful the facility will allow visitors of all ages to visit Licking County and interact directly with the animals. The new fox facility will house up to 75 foxes. The 23 enclosures will be climate-controlled, reducing physical and emotional stress.

7,000 square foot building

The Energy Cooperative’s donation was used to cover the cost of a needed surgery for an emergency intake from an abusive situation. At press time, Baloo was recovering from the procedure. Molly shared, “Baloo's surgery went very well. Once surgery began the doctors discovered more damage than x-rays originally showed causing surgery to take a few hours. With surgery behind us, now the long post-op journey begins.” It is probably going to be close to a year before Baloo regains full use of his leg, but we are looking forward to hearing about his recovery.

Molly and David Schulz

To learn more about Walking Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary or their animals visit their website, walkingwildrescue.org. The website includes an event calendar, pictures of the animals and the opportunity to donate to the organization.