Michigan Wolfdog Ban?!?!?

[RSQRottweiler]

I don't live in Michigan and I don't own a wolfdog/wolf hybrid, but since it relates to BSL I figured I'd ask. Has anyone heard information about a statewide ban on wolfdogs in Michigan? I remember seeing it posted in a forum (a copied article) but I haven't been able to find it again.

Audrey

[WorkinDogz]

Many places ban the ownership of hybrids.

For example; in Oklahoma City, no animal, regardless of the percentage of hybridization is elidgable for the rabies vaccination. DVM's are not required (and are discouraged) from seeing/treating this mixture.

Rescues of hybrids are "supposed" to apply for non-breeder licenses and any medicial attention is gotten from the Zoo Veterinarians.

I really wish people would stick to screwing up dogs and let the wolves alone. Fad ownership of "exotics" such as the Wolf Hybrid really bugs me.

[Tenaj]

WorkinDogz, Ditto!

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

IMO, they should be banned everywhere. Most people could never accomodate a wolf/wolfdog. They make horrible house pets, the more wolf the harder the housetraining, they scavage food off tables and counter tops, and they are very, very smart.

[Skadisha]

WorkingDogz mentioned "DVM" in her post. Can anybody explain to me what that means, please? I see it quite often here.

And as I am just asking, I don't know neither what is K-9 (sorry that does not belong to this topic)?

Thanks for helping and
greetings from Skadisha

[LisaS]

our Americanisms strike again:

DVM = Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or veterinarian

K-9 = shorthand for canine (dog) - when you say the letters aloud K-9 sounds the same as canine.

[Skadisha]

So simple! Thanks a lot, LisaS, because I really had no idea what is was.

greetings from Skadisha

[myagirl]

Yes, I live here in Michigan and I have heard about this. Many people are not taking it too seriously becuase they say that it is virtually impossible to prove that a dog is a wolf-hybrid. However, Like all breed-specific legislation it is disheartening.

[JoJo]

Well I must admit that I had a Malmutte/Wolf 25 years ago. He was gorgeous, loving, protective and yes smart! He was my daughters shadow. God forbid if anyone messed with her. He also loved carrots.hahaha. We took him with us on all the horse show circuits. And because of him, we never had any problems with our horses. No one wanted to come near our stables at night (when all the crime accured)for they knew what they would come across and they would be the loosers. We never had any problems with him. He was the greatest and I still miss him very much. Meshaq was very loyal and obediante. But I must agree with everyone so far, keep the wolf free and wild in his own domain. They are the foundation of all dogs. Let's not screw him up too. By the way, I did not breed to get a(wolf-dog), I rescued him from a bad owner.

[FredAl]

I did some behavior modification training on a wolfdog some time ago (fear-biter). IF his body language wasn't so easy to read, I'd get intimidated by the look in his eyes. It was a mixture of wild, mysterious (almost mystical), yet intelligent.

The behavior was just from his insecurity from his owner not establishing himself as alpha.

[German Vanegas]

Long overdue. Most of those hybrids Wolf-dogs are simply dangerous. Let the wolf live in the wild.

[Dei]

Much as I dislike breed specific legislation, I have serious ethical problems with the practice of mixing wolves and dogs for the sake of selling the result as pets.

The wolf has enough survival problems without individuals being taken out of the population for the sake of the pet trade. Most of them lead terrible lives owing to the fact that very few people have the expertise to properly care for a wild animal, nature films notwithstanding.

And then look who most of the hybrids get sold to -- clueless people who have trouble keeping a dog to begin with. While I'm sure that only a minority are actually dangerous, a majority must be exceedingly destructive and troublesome.

For the sake of people and animals, I do fully support severe restrictions of who may own a wolf-dog hybrid.


Dei.

[German Vanegas]

Since 1981 there has been 42 documented wolf/hybrids attacks to children. The wolf belongs to the wild, it is not to be domesticated. Crossing it with domestic dogs it won't create a "new" breed, but a hybrid, which it is basically a bigeneric half-blooded unpredictable mixture.

Experts in animal care virtually arc unanimous in their recommendation to stick to domesticated animals when choosing a pet. Although wild animals may be cute and cuddly in the early months of life, they tend to become less and less suitable as human companions as they mature toward adulthood. The characteristics that have helped their species survive through the millennia are rarely desirable for life in captivity.

Wolf/hybrid owners who give up in frustration and abandon their fertile hybrids in the woods, in areas inhabited by wolves, are causing even greater harm by contaminating the wild population with dog genes.

As we know, mankind loves to mess with mother nature... and destroy "her" while going at it!