State, Municipal Agencies Investigating Alleged Wolf Hybrid Bite in Anchorage, Alaska Tegan Hanlon / Alaska Dispatch News / January 16, 2015 The Alaska Attorney General’s Office says a woman was bitten Thursday by “an alleged wolf hybrid,” an animal illegal to possess without a permit under state law. The state defines a wolf hybrid as any offspring from a wolf or wolf hybrid with a dog or another wolf hybrid. Coshok’s Canine Castle in Anchorage housed the animal, which bit the woman and sent her to the hospital, Assistant Attorney General Carole Holley confirmed Friday. Coshoks is a kennel for dogs, cats and small animals, as well as a dog grooming and training facility, according to its Facebook page. “It was not pretty, of course, because it was a bite,” said Beverly Ausick, manager at Coshoks. “But she is going to be OK.” At the time of the incident, Coshok’s was holding the canine, along with another “alleged wolf hybrid,” for the state. The animals are considered both contraband and “evidence” in a court case, Holley said. The man who owned the animals, 74-year-old Ronald West, is the defendant in an ongoing court case against the state. The state says West illegally possessed his two canines, named Gringo and Grizz, which it characterized as wolf hybrids, though West disputes the reliability of the test used by the state to determine his animals ancestry, Holley said. In May 2013, Alaska Wildlife Troopers seized the two canines from West’s home in Anchorage after receiving a report that Gringo had attacked a neighbor’s dog. It was not the first time the state had dealt with Gringo. In 2010, the canine escaped its restraints and killed a neighborhood dog. Gringo was ordered to be removed from the state, according to a motion filed by prosecutors in August. At the time of the 2010 attack, West told an investigator that he didn’t understand why the state was prosecuting him for his animal when Wolf Country USA, near Palmer, had dozens of them, according to an Anchorage Daily News article published in 2011. In 2012, Werner Schuster, the owner of Wolf Country USA, pleaded guilty to possessing wolf hybrids without a permit and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. He was also sentenced to 90 days in jail, all of which were suspended. The more than two dozen hybrids were sent to an animal rescue facility in California. Gringo, court documents say, came from Wolf Country USA. Handwritten invoices and photos seized from the business indicated that West “purchased or obtained more than one wolf hybrid from Wolf Country,” according to an affidavit signed by Alaska State Trooper Levi Duell. When Alaska Wildlife Troopers seized Gringo and Grizz in 2013, West said he had brought Gringo back into Alaska after “his year was up. He said he couldn’t afford to house the animal out of state anymore, the affidavit said. A biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game observed Gringo and Grizz and determined that they were both probable high-content wolf hybrids based on their physical and behavioral characteristics. DNA swabs previously taken from Gringo also confirmed the wolf hybrid identification, according to the affidavit. The state charged West with violating an Alaska regulation that makes it unlawful to possess, transport, sell, advertise for or offer to buy wolf hybrids, according to court records. Then in 2014, prosecutors added charges against West for fourth-degree assault and reckless endangerment. The charges stem from an incident on Aug. 24, 2014. According to the charging document, West entered Coshok’s to visit Gringo and Grizz. He was permitted to walk only Gringo at the facility if he was escorted by an employee and if he kept the canine away from other animals and human beings. West allegedly removed Gringo from his pen without telling anyone and allowed people to pet the canine. When one volunteer told them that they couldn’t pet Gringo, a verbal battle erupted between West and the volunteer. It culminated when West yelled at the volunteer and the animal yanked him forward toward the volunteer. West stumbled and fell. Gringo “lunged forward, snarling and dragged” West, the charges said. The volunteer was not injured but said she was petrified,” according to the charges. The bite Thursday prompted the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions to file again a motion asking the judge to “reconsider its decision not to remove the animals from the community,” Holley said. Prosecutors are asking that Gringo and Grizz either be moved to the same rescue facility in California where the Wolf Country USA animals went or be euthanized, she said. A trial date has not yet been set in West’s case. The Office of Special Prosecutions, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, the state veterinarian and the Municipality of Anchorage Animal Control are investigating the recent bite incident, according to a news release sent Friday by the state Attorney Generals Office. Contact Tegan Hanlon at thanlon@alaskadispatch or on Twitter
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:28:52 +0000
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