Possumblog

An odd confluence...

...of Rhode Island, wolf hybrids, higher education, stupid people, and Alabama, via the ever-vigilant NASA scientist Steevil.

Wolf hybrids -- illegal in state -- seized from URI president's home

BY KATIE MULVANEY
Journal Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- Cotton and Gabe, two hybrid wolves, are in the care of the South Kingstown pound after being taken from the property of University of Rhode Island President Robert L. Carothers.

The wolf hybrids belonged to Carothers' 19-year-old son Matthew, who recently retrieved them from Alabama, said Dr. Howard Troob, a veterinarian who cared for the animals. A third, Nikita, was euthanized due to heartworm disease.

South Kingstown Animal Control Officer Robert Wilson learned that wolf dogs might be in the area from his Richmond counterpart, Ann Fisher. He found two chained in a small grove of trees off Carothers' front yard at 90 Meadow Tree Farm Rd. on Aug. 9. They howled, rather than barked, upon his approach. A third was loose in Richmond and Matthew was trying to capture it with the help of the police, according to a police report.

State Department of Environmental Management officers seized the animals on Aug. 11 because it is illegal to keep wolf hybrids in Rhode Island without a permit available only to veterinarians and wildlife handlers, reports show. The hybrids are considered wild animals.

At the request of URI's vice president of administration Robert Weygand, who was watching Carothers' house while he was away on vacation, Troob, a URI alum, agreed to take custody of the animals from the DEM and shelter them at the Washington County Veterinary Hospital.

"These dogs came out of the woods in Alabama. I really shouldn't have had them," Troob said. His desire, he said, was to save them from being destroyed.

Uh, Sparky? There are better ways of doing that.

Matthew had gained the animals' absolute trust by camping with them in the woods for three days before bringing them north, he said. One had escaped on the trip.

Oh, sure. They absolutely trusted him. And knew that if times got hard they could always eat him.

"The kid is young and spirited," said Troob.

Or what we call around here, "young and dumb."

Troob inoculated the hybrids and segregated them from the other animals, he said. Though Matthew said the animals had been vaccinated, he could not produce the paperwork, he said. Despite strict quarantine warnings about limited contact with people or animals, his staff had managed to give one of the females a bath, he said.

Seems as though Rhode Islanders have different definitions of both "absolute" AND "strict."

On Aug. 15, Weygand signed euthanasia forms on behalf of Carothers to have the animals put down, police reports show. Nikita, whose age was estimated at 4 to 5, was euthanized on Aug. 22 because she had heartworm disease and due to limited space at possible hybrid sanctuaries, Troob said.

The wolf dogs were transferred to the local pound that same day after Matthew attempted to rescue them from the hospital, Troob said.

"I didn't want to have to deal with that," Troob said.

I have a feeling I know someone else who'd be better off in quarantine.

The two hybrids are now awaiting transfer within the week to the Dancing Brooke Lodge, a sanctuary for wolf dogs in Lempster, N.H.

Pound manager AnnMarie Biegner said the town had kept the situation quiet because they didn't want people stopping by to stare at the animals. A double enclosure was built around their kennels to keep visitors away and quarantine signs were plastered on their cages.

Five-year-old Gabe paced his kennel, staring out intently from his concrete quarters and seeming wildly out of place with the striking markings of a wolf. Cotton, 1, appeared easily spooked and jittery in the neighboring kennel. Pure white with delicate features, she is prone to nervous bouts of diarrhea, Biegner said.

Say--I wonder if either of them would like to be a network news anchor!?

Anyway, I'm sure both of them are probably thinking to themselves, "Sheesh--he gained our absolute trust in those three days of camping, and NOW look at us. Should have eaten him first, and then allowed him to gain our trust."

"I don't see them as a threat, they're not aggressive. They'd just rather be left alone," she said. Matthew, who could not be reached for comment, is not allowed to visit them, she said.

CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S THE VICTIM HERE!?

Robert Carothers explained that his son didn't realize that hybrid wolves were restricted in Rhode Island. He recently moved from Florida where they are legal, he said.

"He's certainly very fond of them," he said. The youngest of three, Matthew will start classes at the Community College of Rhode Island today.

No doubt where he will attempt to gain the absolute trust of co-eds by camping with them for three days.

Carothers said he was not at home when the hybrids were there.

"I feel bad for him but that's the reality he faces," he said.

Police Chief Vincent Vespia, who has worked closely with state veterinarian Dr. Christopher Hannafin, said he did not expect to press charges.

"Our concern now is for the safety of the animals and the safety of the public," Vespia said.

One wonders then why the state passed a law making them illegal to own, if they aren't that gung-ho about actually prosecuting anyone.

Raising hybrids is legal in some states, particularly in the South, said Anna Jeanne Russell, of Dancing Brooke. Cotton and Gabe will join 40 other dogs at the 48-acre sanctuary, she said.

Wolf dogs, she said, are powerful, smart animals who are widely misunderstood.

People "think you can keep them like a dog and they're not dogs," she said, adding that the animals need plenty of space to roam.

Not to be so picky, but it would seem that 1.2 acres per wolf-dog isn't really a whole lot of space to roam. But it's probably better than chained up in the university president's yard.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at September 6, 2006 03:23 PM