Vimy the wolf, struck by a vehicle near Sudbury, is fighting infection in one of two broken legs after surgery

A wolf that was struck by a vehicle east of Sudbury on January 24 is recovering after surgery on two fractured hind legs, but isn’t in the clear yet.

Mon Kledsai, assistant director of animal welfare at the Aspen Valley Wildlife Centre, said the wolf is eating well, alert, and trying to stand — but one leg is infected.

She said the animal is being monitored closely, given antibiotics and his bandages are being changed often.

The wolf, named Vimy, was hit on Highway 17 near Hagar, about 50 kilometres from Sudbury, and crawled under an abandoned vehicle before being rescued by the driver who struck him, two Ontario Provincial Police officers, and staff from the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre in Sudbury.

Vimy was initially treated for shock at Turtle Pond before being transferred to Aspen Valley for surgery. 

Kledsai said the wolf has an external pin in one leg to stabilize the bone, part of which sticks outside the leg. 

“That's why we need to keep cleaning the wound and making sure that it's nice and clean,” she explained.

In the meantime, the wolf is being kept in a confined space. Once the bone is healed, the pin can be removed, Kledsai said.

In the meantime, the wolf is being kept in a confined space.

“So far he is cooperating very well,” she said. “There's a couple times that he tried to bite his bandage, so now he has a cone on.”

Kledsai said the recovery process will be long-term, and it’s too soon to predict when he might be ready to return to nature.

The driver who hit the wolf and was involved in the rescue asked to name it Vimy, in memory of a Canadian Forces military dog who died in 2021, and in connection with the battle in France where Canadian soldiers were killed during the first World War.