Micah

Micah is a Siberian husky/wolf hybrid that was given to his owners by their daughter after she obtained him from a breeder in western Washington. He grew up with two other dogs, but when he killed one of his owners' cats, they worried that he was too dangerous to be kept at their home. They did not want to have Micah euthanized, so they asked Olympic Animal Sanctuary to take him instead.

Micah is a quiet, sensitive two-year-old, but he is settling in well at the Sanctuary. He gets along with dogs, especially females, and enjoys running around the yard, sniffing and marking his new territory. Steve is spending a lot of time with him, helping him get comfortable with his new surroundings, and accustomed to new experiences, like riding in the truck, and interacting with pushy pit bulls.

Wolves and wolf-dog hybrids are extremely popular in the United States; it is estimated that up to 100,000 of them are born in captivity in the US every year. Despite their popularity, they are not well suited to lives as pets. In the case of wolf hybrids, breeders have no control over which wolf traits and which dog traits the offspring will inherit, and there are no guarantees as to the resulting animals' temperaments or how well they will cope with domestic life. In most cases, wolf-dogs maintain a strong hunting instinct, and they eventually learn to kill smaller animals if given the opportunity. They also tend to be great escape artists, either by digging under, jumping over, or simply chewing through fences. This makes them a poor choice for a pet, and a major liability, in areas where there are cats, small dogs, livestock, or children.

At Olympic Animal Sanctuary, our fence is eight feet tall with 45-degree top arms to prevent animals from jumping or climbing over the top. To prevent digging under, we placed an 'apron' of buried fencing mesh around the perimeter of the yard. And in case of chewing, we use a special high tensile fencing mesh with a higher breaking strength than the heaviest chain link, and even if an animal does manage to bite through a wire, the fence won't unravel like chain link, so the dog (or wolf-dog) would have to chew through several wires to escape, not to mention the cedar boards on the other side of that. Frequent perimeter inspections are conducted to check that no damage has been done to the fence, and strategic plantings ensure that as time goes by, the yard will become increasingly escape-proof, as trees and bamboo prevent access to the fenceline, and their roots make digging out virtually impossible.

Are you prepared to spend thousands of dollars on fencing and landscaping, endless hours on behavioral conditioning, and provide an appropriate, safe, pack framework for a wolf hybrid, not to mention complying with zoning, building codes, and animal welfare laws, and dealing with concerned neighbors? Few people have the time or resources for that responsibility unless they're willing to make it a full-time job. If you think you can handle it, we suggest spending some time volunteering at an animal sanctuary before you take the plunge and find you're in over your head. If you still think you can provide an appropriate home for wolf hybrids after that, maybe you should start a sanctuary of your own -- there is no shortage of wolf hybrids in need of rescue, and instead of buying them from a breeder and perpetuating the animal welfare crisis, you can save them from euthanasia, or worse. But unless you're willing to make it a full time job for the rest of your life, or at least until retirement, please, please find another way to have animals in your life; these animals need your total commitment.

Micah relaxing indoors