Our History

Paul Pondella was born and raised in Glendale, CA and has been rescuing wild animals and bringing them to safety all his life. He would find injured birds, squirrels, cats, dogs and bring them home to the veterinarian who lived next door. A dyslexic and troubled child, his education came from his connection to animals and nature. In 1978, at the age of 18, a judge told him to get his act together or his future would not fare well. Paul took this advice to heart and put his love of the outdoors to work. He started mowing lawns and trimming trees and two years later, by 1980, he started Tree King Tree Services, Inc, which is his primary company today. By the age of 32, he had built one of the most prestigious arbor care companies in Los Angeles County and its surrounding areas. His love and passion for animals continued, and he soon became certified in CPR and First-Aid with animals, and well-known for this ability.

Because of his reputation and growing expertise, not only with trees, but also with animals, Paul started getting calls from the ASPCA to rescue wild animals; in particular, wolves. His first rescue was Panda, a black and white wolf/husky hybrid. Six years later, he adopted Kiva, a Grey Timber wolf pup, another rescue from Big Bear, CA. His relationship with these little orphans was life changing for him, "There is nothing else like them," he claims and so began his education about these magnificent creatures. He quickly became a champion to their plight.

He started dreaming of creating a ranch he would call "Freedom" where children could commune with and learn about nature by running and playing with wolves; all he needed was the land and the wolves.

Sadly, both Panda and Kiva passed away leaving Paul devastated and in pursuit of another wolf. In February of 2005, after having been on a waiting list since 2000, he got a call from a sanctuary with Alaskan Timber wolves, originating in Alaska near Denali National Park and Preserve. He came home with a black pup, just 19 days old. He bottle fed her, taking her with him everywhere he went. "It is wisest to get wild pups before they open their eyes and are able to see or hear. It is less traumatic taking them from their birth pack, and that way they bond to humans as their species, and are much easier to socialize with people." He named her Shadow, but not because of her color. When she started to walk, she would walk directly behind him, in his shadow.

In May, just three months later, he got another call from the sanctuary. Expecting to pick an Arctic/Timber mate for Shadow. Instead he let Shadow choose and she picked Alaska, Allie for short, a beautiful female pup just 20 days old. Paul and Colette initially met in front of a Starbucks in the NoHo Arts District outside her Spiritual Center where she was studying for her Ministerial license. She was drawn to his shiny blue special construction Harley Davidson style motorcycle. Colette knew it was love at first sight; well, with the motorcycle at first, anyway. Discovering he was an arborist, and in need of help with starting a garden at her new apartment, they decided to meet and plan out a beautiful garden together, but more than flowers started to blossom.

Colette and Paul found they had many things in common: they both came from troubled families, they both had dyslexia, a love of the outdoors, and a history of painful and failed relationships. As the garden grew, so did their feelings for each other and it soon became obvious that they had something very special; and for Colette, an animal lover herself, the wolves were just icing on the cake.

When asked what her Ministry will be like... her eyes light up and you can almost hear the howl of this Alpha (mom) Female coming through, "I have always loved children, animals and the outdoors. Although I never had children of my own, I believe life has given me the very rare gift of being a 'den mother' to these beautiful wolves. Being outdoors, teaching children, caring for animals and having a loving family are my passions; now I can take them and make a powerful contribution to others for generations to come."

Not long after their prophetic meeting, the devastating news about Shadow's cancer would rock their world. On September 16th, 2008, the day before Paul's 49th birthday, Shadow was diagnosed with an inoperable, incurable, soft tissue sarcoma originating in her sinus further invading her skull, her cheekbone and was crushing her right eye. They gave her about a month or two to live and offered to put her down right then and there. For Paul, the thought of losing yet another wolf, another member of his family, was more than he could bear. If not for the love and support of Colette, his dream, his life, would have crumbled.

Colette faced it head on. Using all her spiritual training along with her belief in homeopathic medicine she went searching for a cure that she knew, deep in her heart, existed. In her own words; "I believe that there is a Universal antidote to every Universal condition." Their faith and trust eventually led them to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Ft. Collins at Colorado State University. However, the economic downturn had hit hard and the time and the funds to go were not available.

On Valentine's Day, almost six months after Shadow's diagnosis Paul received another call from the wolf sanctuary, the news, "we have pups". With the knowledge that wolf packs lives are dedicated to their pups, it was decided to add a new member of the pack, choosing life instead of waiting to see if Shadow would die. Born February 1, 2009, same day as Shadow, the pack chose their first male wolf, named Noshi Takoda - Noshi means "father" in Algonquin and Takoda means "friend to everyone" in Native American Sioux.