Illustration of wolves from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, The Animal Kingdom, 1829.

Introduction by Alexandra Semyonova

The wolf-dog hybrid, also called ‘wolfdog’, is an emotional trap people walk into all too often. Sometimes it's about the latest macho fashion -- a rottweiler or a pit bull isn't good enough, you're not a real man until you have a half-wolf playing with your children. Sometimes it's about television dog trainers or romantic novels and movies, who tell us the dog is basically a dulled-down wolf, thus that a (half-)wolf becomes a dog if only you get it when it's young. Other times, it's simply the selfish wish to have the most exclusive pet in the neighborhood. All kinds of animals pay the price for these vanities, but as our archive shows, it is most of all our children who are suffering the consequences. Due to the misery and death the wolfdog phenomenon causes, both animal and human, we need some cold, hard biological facts here -- a reality check. Fact: The breeding and keeping of ‘wolfdogs’ is bad for dogs, bad for wolves, and above all bad for our human children.

As more and more research shows, the dog did not ‘descend from’ the wolf any more than you ‘descended’ from your sixth cousin. A wolf is not just some wild kind of dog, and the domestic dog is not merely some inferior or tame form of wolf. All of a wolf’s physiology, its senses, inherent motor patterns, reflexes and emotions are adapted to a rich but hard life in the wild. It took tens of thousands of years of evolution to make the domestic dog equally superbly honed for life with us. When you mix the two, you create creatures that are inferior to both wolf and dog, and that are destined to be miserably unhappy -- they fit neither in a wild world nor in our human one.

Hybrid character is generally unpredictable because it’s impossible to know which dog vs. wolf traits a particular animal has inherited. There are, however, some common behaviors almost all hybrids share. They are escape artists and roamers. They are extremely shy and may be aggressive with humans they haven’t known intimately all their lives. A hybrid often won’t let a human touch it and can respond with severe biting if someone tries -- even their owner. They don’t hesitate to kill small animals and other canids (including your neighbors’ dogs). Most tragic of all, a human infant or child can trigger the same reflexive hunting chain that a lamb does in a hungry wolf. These are genetically determined traits. You cannot socialize a hybrid into being a dog that just looks a lot or a little like a wolf.

None of this is the animal’s fault, but all that does is put the responsibility onto us to abandon our Game of Thrones fantasies (ditto Call of the Wild, White Fang, etc) and stay in the real, adult world. Keeping hybrids is dangerous for us, our children, our livestock and our pets. Keeping hybrids is cruel to the animals themselves. The hybrid is never really happy, no matter how much work you put in. In addition, most people dump the animal when reality overtakes the fantasy they held. The vast majority of hybrids end up abandoned before their third birthday. A few live on in a specialized refuge. Many go to shelters where in the end they are euthanized, too unpredictable and dangerous to place. Many more are abandoned in the countryside, where they starve, are shot by a rancher, or die hit by a car. Keeping hybrids is cruel to real wolves. Contamination of the wolf gene pool by these hybrids is a hindrance to attempts at wolf conservation. These are all reasons why hybrids are banned in a dozen states and strictly regulated in fifteen more.

Perhaps the worst of the lot are the breeders of hybrids. Some are extremely dishonest and uninformed, no matter their pretense of expertise. Others know what misery they’re causing, but don’t care about the animals -- wolf, dog and hybrid -- they exploit. None apparently care about the risk their product poses for the public, especially for our children. Hybrid breeding is a ruthless enterprise, based on ignorance, arrogance and love of cash -- and all other things be damned, from the wolf to the dog to the dead bodies of too many of our children.

The Long Document: Animal behaviorist and author Alexandra Semyonova provides analysis and a special report: What You Need to Know About Wolf-Dog Hybrids

Alexandra Semyonova is an internationally acclaimed animal behaviorist and author of The 100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs. Academically educated in behavioral science and specialized in animal behavior, she provided a major breakthrough for the field in her paper, The Social Organization of the Domestic Dog. She has worked with dogs and their owners on a daily basis for more than 30 years. Visit her website at Nonlinear Dogs. View additional DogsBite.org posts that Semyonova has provided commentary for in the past.

The Archival Record

• 11/30/23: Leo Caddel, 3-months old (Shelby County, AL)
  Killed by his family's pet wolf-dog hybrid. "A 3-month old was being carried around in a dog's mouth," a dispatcher told EMS responders. The Shelby County Corner said that according to the parents, the newborn was on the floor when the wolf-dog hybrid picked him up and "started playing with him." The infant was rushed to Grandview Medical Center in Jefferson County, where he was pronounced dead due to his injuries.
• 03/07/18: Aurora Little, 8-days old (Lee County, VA)

  After 8 years without a wolfdog killing a child, a newborn was mauled to death by her family's wolf-dog hybrid while lying in a bassinet. She suffered "very serious injuries to the upper body and the head," Sheriff Gary Parsons said. At the time of the deadly attack, the family was also fostering two young children that had been approved by the Wise County Department of Social Services to live in the wolfdog household.

  The family had obtained the wolf-malamute mix from AE Kennel in October 2014, a Florida-based wolf hybrid breeding operation co-owned by Erika Andreas and Antoine Robertson. Two days after the newborn was killed, AE Kennel removed their business website and their business page on Facebook. The kennel claimed they have been providing "quality northern breed mixes and wolfdogs" since 1998.1

• 07/12/10: Kyle Holland, 5-years old (Lincoln Park, MI)
  Killed by a male wolf-dog hybrid owned by his mother's boyfriend. The dog attacked and partially ate the boy while he was sleeping. He had over 80 puncture wounds and over 250 abrasions, Dr. Carl Schmidt, chief Wayne County medical examiner testified during the trial. "His buttocks were gone to the point that his sacrum was gone, part of his pelvis was gone, the right hip joint was only partially present," Schmidt said.2
• 10/05/07: Jane Doe, 73-years old (Pahrump, NV)
  Killed by her son's eight wolf-dog hybrids after entering into their "Fort Knox" dog pen. Neighbors said the owner, known only as "Malcolm," had two layers of fencing -- one chain link, the other wood along with concrete walls -- but the wolf hybrids were so tall, they could be seen over the top of the fence line. Due to the high amount of blood involved in the attack, all eight wolf-dog hybrids were destroyed at the scene.3
• 07/17/06: Sandra Piovesan, 50-years old (Salem, PA)
  Killed by her nine wolf-dog hybrids she said she had a "spiritual connection" with who also gave her "unqualified love." Piovesan was found dead by her daughter on July 17 inside the pen where she kept her pack of wolf hybrids. She had extensive injuries, including being partially eaten by her wolfdogs. Animal Planet created a TV segment about her in their "Fatal Attractions" series, "Wolf-Dogs Kill Owner."4
• 04/29/03: Andre Thomas, 13-months old (Mountain Home, ID)
  Killed by wolf-dog hybrid while visiting the dog owner's home. The baby and his mother, Starla Thomas, had stayed the night with Brandon Jenkins, whose roommate owned a 1.5 year old female wolf hybrid name Koa. The next morning, the baby was found on the floor with over 100 bite injuries. The child died after the wolfdog tore out the baby's jugular vein. Previously, Koa had attacked and bitten a 7-year old boy.5
• 06/09/02: Timothy Adams, Jr, 5-years old (Wickliffe, KY)
  Killed by a male wolf-dog hybrid while visiting his grandmother's home. The wolfdog, which was attached to a long chain, attacked the boy in his grandmother's yard then dragged him into the dog's own yard. Latasha Laster, 23, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, but pleaded guilty to a felony count of reckless homicide. She was ordered to serve six months in jail with a picture of the child on her cell wall.6
  The picture Judge Will Shadoan ordered to be hung on her cell wall was an 8-by-11-inch photograph of T.J. Adams that was taken while he was hospitalized after the devastating attack by Laster's wolfdog. - The Associated Press, March 2004
• 10/22/00: Oberen Burgin, 5-years old (Miami Township, OH)
  Killed by his grandmother's wolf-dog hybrid while visiting her home. Obie was mauled to death by an 18-month old female wolfdog after he wandered into the "death radius" of the chained animal. Obie was under the care of his grandmother, Mavis Miller of Miami Township, at the time of the deadly attack. The boy's uncle, Mike Golden, 27, shot the 85-pound wolf hybrid with a .22-caliber pistol as firefighters arrived. 7
• 08/21/99: Cody Fairfield, 4-years old (Egelston Township, MI)
  Killed after entering into the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. The wolfdog, named Tanner, was tied up behind a barn when it crushed his throat. The cause of death was "strangulation and bleeding caused by the manual compression of the neck. The head and neck also suffered blunt trauma." The wolf hybrid came from a litter bred by Rick Buie, whose littermates and sire were killed due to aggression.8
• 12/18/96: Debbie Edmonds, a 39-years old (Black Forest, CO)
  Killed by two wolf-dog hybrids she had been caring for. Edmonds marked the first adult to be killed by wolf hybrids; previously only children were victims. The two wolfdogs, a male and female, had escaped their pen earlier and attacked Edmonds as she got out of her car. The wolf-dog hybrids dragged Edmonds between one and two-tenths of a mile from the driveway, continuing their vicious attack in front of her two children. 9
• 01/01/95 - Russell Evans, 2-years old (Black Hawk, SD)
  Killed when he wandered into the "death radius" of two chained wolf-dog hybrids. Evans' death is referenced on the Hunt Talk Forum Board and a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (1995-1996) from the CDC. "In January 1995, a 2-year-old boy in South Dakota wandered into a neighbor's yard, where he was attacked and killed by two chained wolf-German shepherd hybrids." We found no other references.10
• 10/22/93: Josh Garner, 12-years old (Eldorado at Sante Fe, NM)
  Killed by his neighbor's wolf-dog hybrid, named Kodiak. The male wolfdog was 5-years old and stood nearly four feet at the shoulders. The Garners sued the dog's owners, Chuck and Velma Sanchez. A settlement was reached, but terms were not disclosed. Due to a 1989 savage attack by a wolf hybrid on a child in the same area, the Sanchez' were required to have reinforced enclosures; it's unclear if they were compliant.11
• 12/11/93: Kevin Lahey, 3-years old (Townshend, VT)
  Killed by a wolf-dog hybrid after wandering away from his day-care center. The 120-pound, 2.5 year old female wolfdog sprang over a makeshift pen where she was confined with her nine puppies. Cathy Barrows, an animal control officer from Brattleboro, estimated the animal was three-quarters wolf and one-quarter dog. "It was extremely aggressive." The wolf hybrid and her puppies were killed after the attack.12
• 04/28/91: Nicholas Hinton, 2-years old (Fort Wayne, IN)
  Killed by a wolf-dog hybrid and pit bull after climbing into their padlocked pen. At just two years old, Nicholas was able to climb a 6-foot chain link fence, where his father kept a male wolfdog and female pit bull. Police believe when he got to the top of the fence, he fell inside. The Allen County Coroner said the number of bite marks were "too many to count" and, "there wasn't a part of his body that was untouched."13
• 09/05/90: Curtis Hawkins, 2-months old (East Orange, NJ)
  Killed and partially consumed by his family's 6-month old wolf-dog hybrid. The baby's mother, Petera Hawkins, left the child in his crib on the third floor of their home and was visiting her in-laws on a lower level when the wolfdog killed the child. Officials said the baby died of bilateral fractures of the rib cage, collapsed lungs, multiple contusions, lacerations and puncture wounds and partial devourment by an animal.14
• 04/13/90: Paul Mahler, 4-weeks old (Anchorage, AK)
  Killed by female wolf-dog hybrid while being held in his mother's arms. Mahler died of extensive skull fractures after being bitten in the head by a wolf hybrid. Linda Borer took her baby into the Wasilla-area kennel of a friend's pregnant wolfdog and held him for the animal to lick. The dog clamped his jaws onto the baby's head. Borer had previously owned at least six wolfdogs and was active in local wolf hybrid groups.15
• 03/17/90: Tonya Elliot, 2-years old (Otisville, MI)
  Killed while playing near the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. Tonya's death occurred while Michigan legislators were debating a statewide ban on wolfdogs. Ruth Wilson and her daughter were visiting the home of the dog's owner when Tonya wandered near the animal. The wolf hybrid grabbed the child by the neck and shook her, tearing out her throat and nearly decapitating her, according to news reports.16
• 06/03/89: Alyshia Berczyk, 3-years old (Forest Lake, MN)
  Killed after wandering into the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. Alyshia was visiting the home of her father, Joseph Berczyk, whose roommate owned a wolfdog named, Spock. Her father was only 25 feet away when the wolf hybrid grabbed her dress and slammed her to the ground so hard, she suffered massive liver damage. The medical examiner said her death was caused by multiple traumatic injuries. 17
• 03/02/89: Angie Nickerson, 5-years old (National Mine, MI)

  Killed and partially eaten by a wolf-dog hybrid after exiting her school bus. According to her mother's obituary, written by Animal People, the wolf hybrid-malamute was adopted from a shelter and given to Angie's aunt Tammi Alderton by a boyfriend five days before the fatal attack. Angie’s partially eaten remains were not found for more than an hour because each family thought she had gone to the home of the other.

  Angie's horrific death led to Michigan banning the breeding and ownership of wolf-dog hybrids. "All I want is for the breeding to stop, and I will fight for that until I take my last breath," said her mother, Patti Nickerson, who spearheaded the effort to pass the "Wolf-Dog Cross Act," enacted in memory of Angie Nickerson. Patti was murdered by her second husband -- shot to death -- three months after the act went into effect.18

• 09/24/88 - Nathan Carpenter, 4-years old (Ft. Walton Beach, FL)

  Killed by a neighbor's wolf-dog hybrid adopted out by the Pan Handle Animal Welfare Society in Florida two hours earlier. The shelter agreed to a $425,000 settlement, the highest ever at that time. Nathan's death caused many agencies to reevaluate their adoption policies for wolf-dog hybrids and other potentially dangerous dogs. The animal that killed Nathan was a 5 year old, 75-pound male, neutered wolf-husky mix.

  The dog was advertised in the newspaper as "Pet of the Week -- Gentle Giant -- Well Behaved." After adoption, it was placed in a fenced yard while its new owner went to get groceries. The wolf-dog hybrid quickly jumped the 4 foot fence and ran loose in the neighborhood. Nathan's mother saw the dog, and as she was calling it in, it rushed into her back gate where Nathan was playing. The wolfdog tore out his throat.19

  "Many wolf hybrids live out their lives locked indoors or chained up outside. Most of these animals escape at some point, and the HSUS has received many reports of hybrids hit by cars or killed while harassing or killing livestock or pets." - Randall Lockwood, PhD, HSUS, Shelter Sense Volume 14, Number 02 (1991)
• 09/18/86 - Brandon Ingle, 4-years old (Forest City, NC)
  Killed after entering into the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. The boy and his mother were visiting the home of Horace Bailey when the fatal attack occurred. The dog, part German shepherd and part wolf, was blind due to a shotgun blast to its face a few years earlier. It was tied to a stake behind Bailey's home. Brandon slipped away through the rear patio door. The wolfdog tore into his head, neck and arms.20
• 05/05/86 - Nicola Martin, 2 years old (Big Lake, AK)
  Killed while playing near the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. The Martin family was visiting the Schumachers, who owned the wolf-husky mix. Nicola was playing nearby with another 2-year-old when the wolfdog attacked, biting into her neck. Family members scooped her up, jumped into a pick up truck and raced toward a hospital. But they crashed into a tree while trying to get around traffic.21
• 10/19/83 - David Hammer, 3-years old (Malad, ID)
  Killed by his family's pet wolf they were breeding. The female white wolf and her two cubs, wolf-husky hybrids, escaped their pen on DeVon Hammer's farm. While Hammer's children were trying to coral the animals and get them back into the pen, David started running and the mother wolf chased after him, Oneida County Sheriff Ken Wharton said. The wolfdog attacked the boy's head and neck, killing him.22
• 09/13/81 - Eric Turner, 2-years old (Wayne, MI)
  Killed after entering into the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. Eric wandered into his neighbor's yard where the wolfdog was kept. Brian Walsh, 20, was convicted of possessing an animal on the state endangered species list, a misdemeanor. The parents of the boy sued Walsh, Royce and Barbara Sissom, who where keeping the animal at the time of the attack, and Don Burroughs, who sold the wolf to Walsh.23
• 04/12/80: Dusty Redding, 2-years old (Wheatland, WY)
  Killed after entering into the "death radius" of a chained wolf-dog hybrid. After biting a child in Story, Wyoming, then escaping its quarantine at a veterinary clinic and killing a young calf, the wolf hybrid was shipped back to Ohio, where it had come from. The owner of the hybrid, Randy Prater, went to Ohio and brought the wolfdog back to Wheatland, Wyoming, where he was a renter, living on the Redding property.24

“Fact: The breeding and keeping of ‘wolfdogs’ is bad for dogs, bad for wolves, and above all bad for our human children.” - Animal behaviorist and author Alexandra Semyonova.

The Long Document: Animal behaviorist and author Alexandra Semyonova provides analysis and a special report: What You Need to Know About Wolf-Dog Hybrids

Reading List & End Notes

• Wolf Hybrids, by Claudine Wilkins and Jessica Rock, Founders of Animal Law Source (www.animallawsource.org)
• Can You Turn A Wolf Into A Dog? By Pat Tucker & Bruce Weide, Published by Wild Sentry, 1998 (www.wildsentry.org)
• Wolf-Dog Hybrid Test - UC Davis Veterinary Medicine (www.vgl.ucdavis.edu)
• Historical: Dog Attack Deaths and Maimings, U.S. and Canada, September 1982 to May 11, 1998, Animal People (www.animals24-7.org)
• Historical: Wolf Hybrids: Some Facts About a Growing Problem, by Randall Lockwood, HSUS, Shelter Sense, Volume 15, Number 04 (1992)

Hollywood Influence

End Notes

Related articles:
Fatal Pit Bull Attacks - The Archival Record by DogsBite.org
Fatal Pit Bull Attacks - Child Fatalities - The Archival Record by DogsBite.org
Fatal Rottweiler Attacks - The Archival Record by DogsBite.org