Shy Wolf Sanctuary founders settle eviction lawsuit

Shy Wolf Sanctuary founders Nancy and Kent Smith have settled their lawsuit against the nonprofit, which wanted to evict them, contending they never had a right to live out their lives in their Golden Gate Estates home on the sanctuary’s campus.

As part of the settlement, the couple agreed to move to another home owned by the nonprofit and not to comment to the media about the agreement.

“The parties resolved their differences and as part of that resolution, the Smiths are relocating to another home,” said the Smiths’ attorney, David Schnitzer, who represented the couple with Tony Lawhon. Schnitzer said the agreement prohibits parties from commenting but said the home is on Golden Gate Boulevard West in Golden Gate Estates.

Appraiser records show Shy Wolf Sanctuary, Education & Experience Center purchased a 1,744-square-foot home on 2.34 acres on Golden Gate Boulevard West in Golden Gate Estates for $1.7 million in 2021. It’s 8 miles from the sanctuary.

The order by Collier Circuit Judge Chris Brown, who ruled last month, came after both sides worked with a mediator, which resulted in a stipulated settlement agreement. The judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, including all claims and counterclaims, but reserved the right to retain jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement and lease — which could result in reinstatement of any dismissed claims, counterclaims and vacating his order. Brown ruled both parties would pay their own attorney fees and costs.

Nancy Smith’s son, Michael Cook, declined to comment, citing the order. Scott Atwood, who represented Shy Wolf, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Several former volunteers and board members declined to comment because the Smiths are still dependent on the sanctuary board.

Shy Wolf evolved over the years after Nancy Smith rescued an injured black Asian leopard named Moon Dance in 1993. The couple operated the sanctuary out of their home at 1161 27th St. SW and it became a nonprofit in 2001, providing a home on 2½ acres for about 60 captive-bred wolves and other exotic animals, including wolf-dogs, coyotes, foxes, prairie dogs, gopher tortoises and cougars.

The sanctuary operates by reservation, with visitors going on a 90-minute guided walk along paths as guides detail how each animal ended up there.

Sixteen years after becoming a nonprofit, the Smiths signed over the property to the sanctuary, but signed a life-trust agreement, ensuring they’d be able to remain in their home and care for the animals as long as the Smiths lived.

This January, the nonprofit sued to evict the Smiths, contending 80-year-old Nancy was disrupting sanctuary operations, causing employee turnover. Days earlier, the nonprofit had Smith arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge after she struggled with an employee, breaking her glasses, as Smith tried to say goodbye to Chatty, a wolf scheduled to be euthanized.

Lawhon has said she just wanted to say goodbye, but staff refused to allow it.

That criminal case was resolved by defense attorney Derek Verderamo and Assistant State Attorney Mary Purcell after Smith agreed to enter a pretrial-diversion program. Under the Aug. 21 plea agreement, she’ll attend anger-management classes and complete 16 hours of community service. She agreed to pay $230 for the four-month program and if she complies and attends her next court hearing, the charge will be dismissed in four months.

Smith stepped down in 2019

Smith dedicated her life and career to rescuing, rehabilitating and providing lifetime care to displaced wild animals, including wolves and panthers, growing her sanctuary into a recognized nonprofit. She remained on the board after transferring her home to the nonprofit, but stepped down in 2019, state records show.

In 2021, the sanctuary paid $1.7 million to buy a 17-acre property at 221 Golden Gate Boulevard to move to and expand, but property records show the board ended up selling it for $1.95 million three years later.

The nonprofit’s most recent publicly available tax filing, for 2024, shows it received $567,977 in revenue, down 17.3% from $686,963 in 2023. The organization reported $800,305 in expenses, $1.92 million in total assets and $9,330 in liabilities at the end of 2024.

Shy Wolf’s lawsuit said that after the Smiths transferred their home in 2017, the board paid their mortgage and utilities for years and paid off the mortgage while using the home as its administrative offices. Until recently, the lawsuit said, the arrangement was satisfactory.

In a statement shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Lawhon and the Smiths, who’ve been married 40 years, said they agreed to transfer ownership on two conditions: that they could live in their home until they died, and that Nancy Smith could continue to participate in the animals’ care. The sanctuary’s board of directors agreed and a written contract — a life-trust agreement — was prepared by attorney Jamie Hewitt, with the Smiths and the board signing the agreement that was placed in the administrative office. Under the life trust, Shy Wolf charged no rent and paid all utilities.

Former board members told The Naples Press they’d seen the agreement and were present when it was discussed and approved by the board. However, the Smiths weren’t given a copy and it disappeared — and Shy Wolf then claimed it didn’t exist. Shy Wolf refused to allow Nancy Smith to search the office for it.

The parties battled it out in motions, with Shy Wolf contending it was given the property in return for paying the Smiths’ mortgage. The Smiths denied that, contending that was part of the life-trust agreement.

“The Smiths kept their side of the bargain and conveyed the property,” the Smiths said in an answer to the lawsuit. “For approximately eight years, Shy Wolf kept its side as well, paying the mortgage and the utilities and charging no rent. After locking the Smiths out of the very office where the written agreement was kept, Shy Wolf now denies that the promise ever existed and asks this court to evict its founders from their home.”

For 1½ years, the lawsuit said, Shy Wolf officials tried to reach a compromise to let the Smiths to remain in their home, but that failed, so Shy Wolf offered them a larger, rent-free home a few miles away. Records show it’s the home they agreed to move to.

The couple also filed a counterclaim. In one motion, they called Shy Wolf’s claims “fiction.

“It asks this court to treat the 2017 transaction as though the Smiths conveyed the home they built and had occupied for decades in exchange for nothing more than payment of the mortgage,” the motion said.

Records show attorney Richard Annunziata served as a mediator and the parties agreed to keep negotiating this summer. An Aug. 28 filing shows they reached a settlement after a mediation conference the week before. A stipulation for dismissal was filed on Aug. 31, and the judge then entered his order last month, agreeing to intercede if the parties didn’t adhere to all terms.