I wanted to start a thread about a subject that is dear to me but also controversial. I hope to be able to do this in a way that won’t ruffle feathers.
This subject is dear to me because 22 years ago I accidentally bought a low content wolf dog hybrid. When he was six months old he killed some river rats. I stood there in disbelief when my neighbor who was facing the pup playing by the river said “uh your dog just killed a rat.” I told him that my dog must have found it dead. He argued that he had seen him grab it out of the water and shake it to death. On another occasion I let him off his leash after a very long run in the woods. He ran into a large cement pipe that went under the road and by the light of the sewer grate I had to wait till he was done exterminating a family of musk rats. He killed a ground hog on another occasion and then the neighbor’s cat. The cat used to eat with their family dog and was friendly with dogs. One day on our way home I spotted our dog running like a wolf by the side of a cow and jumping at it in exactly the way wolves jump at game. We stopped the car immediately and the farmers were coming out of the barn with pitch forks. We managed to get the dog into the car and an argument ensued with the farmers. They said to my husband “if there is anything wrong with my cow you will pay for her” to which my husband replied ‘no problem, but if I pay for her he will eat her” To my surprise the farmers laughed and the cow seemed to do fine after that. We were however being sued by the cat owners who had been friends and we were no longer able to be insured if we kept the dog. We called the breeder who told us that her line of black huskies had extinguished and she needed him anyways. I cried when we signed his papers back over to her and as I heard him howling as we drove away down the 300 yard driveway.
My husband and I wrote to the owner of Mission Wolf hoping he would allow me to post images directly to this forum and he has agreed.
This is the reply I got from Mission Wolf:
Thanks for your work to help educate others about the reality of owning a wild canine (and for your patience with my reply).
Yes, you are welcome to post any images you like. Please provide copyright credits to M:W and the artist of the image where appropriate.
Have a great year and good luck,
Kent
I was hoping someone could help me make a sticky about this problem. I want to give credit to the photographers but couldn't immediately find their names on the website so for now I will post a link to the website.
http://www.missionwolf.com/
Also The Dog Whisperer did an episode on this problem and part of it is on you tube. The head of Mission Wolf is on that episode. I think these groups are doing great work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfpQVjYFcSE
I specifically asked to use the images directly on this website but realized I may not be computer savy enough to do it. I hesitate to copy them to photobucket.
I am looking forward to hearing your opinions on this subject.