Purchasing A Wolf Hybrid Is Illegal In County, City

When Anne Gordon, owner of Anne's Animal Actors in Snohomish County, decided to sell one of her animals, she acknowledged it might be a tough sell because of several inherent land mines, both legal and physiological.

The animal she is selling, for $300, is a wolf hybrid. In her advertisement she described him: "movie star dropout, 3-year-old neutered male." The animal was listed for two weeks, with few callers, says Gordon, whose company contracts with film producers for four-legged stand-ins.

"This is certainly not an animal for everyone," she emphasizes. "In fact, I won't place it in a home with children or one that doesn't have a heavily fenced kennel."

She faces an even bigger obstacle, because on June 12, it became illegal for anyone in unincorporated King County or any city served by King County Animal Control to purchase a hybrid. In Seattle, the hybrid is included in a dangerous-animal ordinance, forbidding ownership.

He was featured in the movie, "Surviving the Game," starring Ice-T and Rutger Hauer, which was released in April 1993. All of his scenes were edited out other than one, where he was growling fiercely, says Gordon, who is raising an Arctic wolf.

"I used a hybrid in this case because of explosions and other potentially frightening diversions. (The plot dealt about man hunting man for sport.) But he's very stubborn and if disciplined severely, he will not hesitate to bite. I'm letting every caller

know this. If I can't match him up with the right owner, I'll have him euthanized."

Gordon admits there is "no purpose" for the wolf-dog. "A hybrid in its own mind doesn't know whether to be a wolf or a dog. It can bite to kill while wagging its tail."

The city of Seattle dangerous animal ordinance defines the culprit as "an animal that is capable of seriously injuring or killing a human being or domestic animal," according to Delores Petty, director.

The newly passed King County measure includes the hybrid on a listing of several exotic species deemed dangerous, yet owners of these will be grandfathered, meaning they may keep any animals they presently own.

Vicki Schmitz, assistant manager King County Licensing and Regulatory Services Division, says the agency will organize a panel of experts familiar with the behavior of banned species, and develop enforcement guidelines. Before the exotic-animal ban is implemented, Schmitz plans to ask the King County Citizens Animal Advisory Committee for guidance, plus conduct public meetings to answer owners' questions.

While it was not singled out, the hybrid represents the centerpiece of the new measure, austensibly because it comes in contact more with the general population than others listed.

Wolf dog measures are commonplace nationally. Approximately 12 states and dozens of local municipalities place some form of restriction on ownership, ranging from total ban to grandfathered ownership. Hybrid ownership is permissible in Tacoma and Pierce County. Everett forbids the sale of hybrids, Snohomish County allows it.

The American Veterinary Medical Association, National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists strongly discourage the breeding and ownership of the wolf dog.

Unpredictability, lack of protective rabies vaccines, difficulty with housebreaking, hyperactivity, destructiveness and predatory behavior top the list of why many experts recommend not owning a hybrid.

While there has not been one documented account of a fatal attack by a wolf in this country, nine deaths have been attributed to hybrids since 1986, according to Dr. Randall Lockwood of the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C. But in justice to hybrid owners, several other breeds are responsible for many more fatalities.

"There's not a day that goes by that we don't get a phone call from some worried owner asking if we'll take his or her hybrid," says Jack Laufer, curator of Wolf Haven International in Tenino.

Experts claim that newspaper advertisements listing percentages of wolf are nothing more than a scam. "No one has come up with means of determining percentages," says Laufer, "although a study at UCLA to be published soon will list the specifics for identifying hybrids."

The UCLA work involves DNA. Researchers have found 14 markers in dogs not found in gray wolves and 37 markers in gray wolves not uncovered in canines. This has allowed them to examine suspected hybrids for the presence of dog-specific markers, enabling them to determine the dog genetic influence. Eventually, a blood test will enable wildlife and animal-control officers to get a true read on suspected hybrids.

When one breeds a purebred dog to a pure wolf, the offspring inherit a set of genes from each parent and are 50 percent dog, 50 percent wolf. When these animals are bred to other 50-50 hybrids, however there is no way to calculate or manipulate which genes they pass on to their offspring, explains Laufer. "Sometimes the offspring look like a dog but behave like a wolf.

"It's important people recognize a hybrid is not a breed or a species, like a German shepherd, Rottweiler, Akita or cocker spaniel. You can't track its breeding lineage with any predictability."

Lockwood adds, "People have this romantic notion of getting back in touch with the wild, but what they end up with is a creature that's a biological time bomb.

"A very high percentage of owners experience serious problems with these animals by the time they're 3. They end up being chained in the back yard, stuck away in basements or enclosures, released in the wild or euthanized."

For most owners, the more wolfy the appearance, the more doglike the personality, the better.

Elegance, mystique, power and the enchantment of owning and living with a part-wolf are cited as chief attractions of these animals.

A wolf is naturally timid. If you threaten one, it will attempt to run. Dogs are much more aggressive, hence the more dog in a hybrid, the more vulnerable it is to bite out of fear or aggression. "But predicting a hybrid's personality is a real guessing game. Purchasing a hybrid is like playing cards. It's a game of chance. The losers, however, are usually the poor animals," Lockwood adds.

The proven liability problems associated with these animals has discouraged animal-control and animal-welfare shelters from attempting to place them." (Virtually all area agencies euthanize any animal identified as a wolf hybrid.)

Laufer envisions in suit-happy America that attorneys for injured parties will begin tracking responsibility for biting hybrids beyond second-hand owners and back to breeders. "Someone needs to be held accountable for these animals when there's a problem," he says.

Special issue

A collection of 70 classic black-and-white photographs are featured in a special edition of Life magazine dedicated to the human-animal companion bond.

The publication and the Ralston Purina Co. have teamed up to offer "Best Friends,' a 92-page issue capturing Americans' love affair with their pets.

Today is the deadline for ordering or obtaining the special edition at participating stores when purchasing two bags of Purina Puppy Chow, Dog Chow, Senior, Hi Pro or Fit & Trim brand dog foods or by sending two proofs of purchase, plus $1 for postage and handling to "Best Friends," P.O. Box 15568A, Mascoutah, Ill. 62258.

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