By Jamie Collins
Due to recent news, wolf-dog hybrids have been under a great deal of scrutiny. In Nicholasville, KY a three day old infant was taken from his crib by the family dog, which is claimed to be a wolf-dog mix. The baby suffered head trauma along with multiple other injuries to his lungs and ribs. This tragedy has led to controversy regarding the safety of wolf-hybrids and how the fate of the dog should be handled.
The differences in opinion seem to branch in two directions. Was the dog acting in a way in which he/she could cause harm and be should be killed? Or was the dog reacting to innate qualities with no intention of harm, and should be spared?
I expect everyone would agree that what happened to this baby was clearly a tragedy, but there seems to be a divide on whose to blame and exactly what should happen to the family dog. In addition to the controversy regarding appropriate punishment, terminology has also ignited quite the discussion. The father of the infant referred to their dog as a ” Native American Indian” breed which has left the Native American community deeply offended. According to Vice President of the Native American Indian Council of the Bluegrass this term is “like a slap in the face to Native Americans anywhere”. He concludes that by adding the word “Indian” to the breed name indicates an ethnicity of an individual and not an animal.
So what exactly is a wolf-dog hybrid? A wolf-dog hybrid is a combination of wolf and dog, and is reflective of a subspecies of wolf. Hybrids can display features consistent with other mix-breed a dog in which very little wolf is present, or they can look identical to full wolf breeds. There are currently at least 7 different lineages of wolf-dog hybrids including: Saarlooswolfhond, Kunming Wolf-dog, Czechoslovakian Wolf -dog, Lupo Italiano, Shikoku Inu, and wolf-poodle hybrids. The majority of these breeds are German Shepherd–wolf hybrids and were initially developed to aid in military efforts. How do wolf mixed breeds fair in the temperament category? According to the Human Society of the United States, wolf-dog hybrids rank sixth in number of dog-attack deaths accounting for 14 between 1979 and 1998. Experts claim that wolf-dogs have characteristics consistent with dog breeds; however, their wolf-like qualities remain prominent attributes.
Currently the Nicholasville family Wolf Hybrid has been deemed to be safe and will be put up for adoption. The infant is still in serious condition reports WKYT.
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