State spays wild wolf after it’s bred by loose dog

[denali]

ENDANGERED SPECIES — The saga of wolf recovery in Washington has taken a strange tryst.

A large domestic guard dog that took a month-long romp on the wild side in Pend Oreille County forced Washington Fish and Wildlife officials to capture and spay an endangered female gray wolf on Saturday.

“Our goal is restoration of a native wolf population not in producing a generation of hybrids we'd have to take care of in another way later,” said Donny Martorello, the department's carnivore manager in Olympia.

The wolf was one of two females in the new Ruby Creek Pack that biologists have been tracking with GPS collars since July.

The unusual action came after biologists learned that an Akbosh sheep dog climbed a 7-foot-tall fence from its yard near Ione and disappeared with the two female wolves for more than a month during February when wolves go into heat.

“If there had been a male wolf in the group, the dog would have been killed instantly,” Martorello said. But the two females tolerated  him and breeding occurred, he said.

Biologists easily tracked the GPS signal and used a helicopter to shoot tranquilizers and capture the wolves. One female was pregnant; the other was not, he said. Both were released in the Pend Oreille River area.

“Spaying (the pregnant wolf) was a better alternative than trying to go out and kill all the pups after they're born,” he said.

The dog had run off with the wolves for about a week in early January, but biologists were able to monitor the wolves and tell the dog's owner when they were back near the home.  The homeowner was able to call the dog in.

“We were already suspicious,” Martorello said. “Dogs and wolves usually don't mix.”

Wildlife officials advised the dog owner to restrain the dog for the rest of the winter.  While dogs can come into heat throughout the year, wolves generally come into estrus only in January and February, Martorello said.

“But when those females came back in a few days, one must have been in estrus because that big, intact dog climbed a seven-foot orchard fence and took off with them from mid-January through February,” he said.

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2014/mar/11/state-spays-wild-wolf-after-its-bred-loose-dog/


Wildlife officials advised the dog owner to restrain the dog for the rest of the winter-  hey... WDF and wolves how about you restrain your "dogs" , sorry could not resist 

[boneaddict]

THanks for the story.   Ruby Creek pack now, I haven't been up on that tidbit.   As for the male guard dog with his two she wolves.   You go buddy!

[timberfaller]

  inbreeding   Don't ya just love it when a "public employee" no matter how educated they have become, DON'T understand simple animal behavior !!

Sad thing is they get paid to act the way they do!! at our expense!

[Fl0und3rz]

A bullet would have been cheaper.

[huntnphool]

A bullet would have been cheaper.

Or two!

[snowpack]

So the state is worried about the effect dogs have on wolves, but not what wolves have on dogs.  Wonder if it will be like that when the wolves are snatching up golden-labradoodle-puggles from the seattle yuppies.

[FC]

Talk about stupid! The whole point is for them to breed, now they have just created a couple of eating machines.

[Curly]

I misread the article.  When I first read it, I guess I just assumed that they killed the fetuses while they were in there spaying the wolf.  Now I realize that they are going to let the wolf give birth to the hybrids (that is how you read it right?).

How do the tranquilize a wolf, perform surgery, and not affect the pups?

I agree that a bullet or two would have been the best solution.

I need to quit reading this crap, I don't know how much more by blood pressure can handle.

[AspenBud]

when the wolves are snatching up golden-labradoodle-puggles

That would actually be a good thing for the dog world.   

[AspenBud]

How do the tranquilize a wolf, perform surgery, and not affect the pups?

At a lot of shelters pups from spays are euthanized during the procedure. I have no idea why anyone would want to save the pups in this case.

[Oldguy]

When I was a youngster, I got my laughs out of reading the daily "Funny Papers." Now days all I have to do to get a good laugh is follow the WDFW activities regarding fish and wolves. Unbelievable ineptness!

[bearpaw]

I'm glad to hear they took action! 

Brings to mind a new way to reduce the wolf population.... 

[headshot5]

I thought the same thing initially.  But then I realized that the wolf is going to have a bunch of hybrid puppies.  Then there will be a bunch of hybrids out there killing wildlife and eventually breeding more and creating more hybrids.  Unless I'm totally reading the article wrong, and I very well could be since it doesn't make any sense.  Why would they allow hybrids to be born? 

Pretty sure the wolf won't have the pups.

[Curly]

Okay, so I must have read it right the first time. 

“Spaying (the pregnant wolf) was a better alternative than trying to go out and kill all the pups after they're born,” he said.

They must have aborted the fetuses when they spayed the wolf.  None of it makes much sense, but I guess having a spayed female out there isn't that bad.  It would have been better to put a bullet in her though.

[Curly]

I thought the same thing initially.  But then I realized that the wolf is going to have a bunch of hybrid puppies.  Then there will be a bunch of hybrids out there killing wildlife and eventually breeding more and creating more hybrids.  Unless I'm totally reading the article wrong, and I very well could be since it doesn't make any sense.  Why would they allow hybrids to be born? 

Pretty sure the wolf won't have the pups.

Yeah.  That is good news.

I realized that right after I posted and deleted it.