---
title: "The Incredible Bond Between A Group Of Combat Vets And Wild Wolves"
date: "2016-06-01"
modified: "2016-06-01"
authors:
  - name: "James Clark"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/incredible-bond-group-combat-vets-wild-wolves/"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Entertainment"
---

# The Incredible Bond Between A Group Of Combat Vets And Wild Wolves

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/19035889-1.jpg>)

The bond between a group of combat veterans and wild wolves, both suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, is the focus of an upcoming documentary called [“The War In Between.” ](<https://www.facebook.com/The-War-in-Between-272444733104629/>)

The film is set at the [Lockwood Animal Rescue Center,](<https://lockwoodarc.org/>) or LARC, where wolves rescued from roadside attractions, breeders, and other exploitative situations, are paired with veterans suffering from mental trauma sustained in combat. The back-to-nature therapy retreat is located on 20 acres in the Los Padres National forest in Ventura County, California, and is home to about 40 rescued wolves.

Related: Wounded Veterans And Service Members Swim With Giants At Georgia Aquarium»

Courtesy photo by Valentina Socci

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-2533.jpg>)

A wolf at the Lockwood Animal Rescue Center in Los Padres National forest in Ventura County, California, nuzzles the leg of one of the program’s participants.

Filmed over the course of a year and slated to premiere in September, filmmaker Riccardo Ferraris’ documentary highlights the relationship between wolf and warrior and how the experience of being welcomed into a pack, canine or otherwise, can be cathartic.

“What I see here with the veterans is the rekindling of the 13-year-old-boy before the trauma,” said Matt Simmons, the program’s founder, in a press release about the film. “It's amazing to be accepted in a pack that usually accepts only its own offspring. It's a miracle that only happens here at LARC.”

**Check out the trailer for “The War In Between” below.**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp3ZA2pXueU

## Author
James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JamesWClark>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jclarkjournalism/>)