By Kurt Nesbitt
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN
The animal that Austin police seized earlier this week in response to a report of a wolf being kept as a pet was established to be a dog by an expert, and it will likely be released to its owner, said an Austin community service officer Thursday.
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What happened: A wildlife expert says the physical characterics of animal seized this week in Austin are consistent with a dog, not a wolf.
Why does it matter: It's against the law to have a wolf or a wolf mix animal as a pet in Austin. Authorities see it as a public safety issue.
What comes next: The dog will likely be released to its owner. It's been kept at the city's animal shelter during the investigation. |
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The dog, a 2-year-old white female named Dakota, will return home from the city animal shelter, said Community Service Officer James Dugan. Dakota was seized Monday after a woman report to authorities that she thought Dakota was a wolf and a threat to safety. Police took Dakota to the city animal shelter where she was being held as of Thursday night.
Dugan said police are releasing Dakota because they have determined she is not a wolf, and is therefore not in violation of any Austin city ordinance.
Austin Police Cheif Paul Philipp said Friday morning that Dakota, the two year-old animal seized by police in response to a citizen complaint earlier this week, is heading northward to a farm her owner, a local man, found.
Police learned about Dakota's true characteristics from Peggy Callahan, the founder and executive director of the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn., a non-profit organization that runs an education and research facility that houses many rare animals, including wolves.
"My professional opinion is that it's not a wolf," Callahan said, who has not actually seen Dakota in person.
It is not the first time Callahan has been asked to identify an animal suspected of being entirely or partially a wolf.
"Usually, it's coyotes or wolf-dog mixes, but this guy's not even that," she said.
Callahan said the angle that Dakota's nose takes as it joins her forehead is one sign she isn't a wolf, because wolves' foreheads are flat. Dakota would also have had a longer jaw, larger feet if she was a wolf. Arctic wolves do not have the pure white coloration that Dakota does. Dakota's outward behavior doesn't resemble that of a wolf, either, according to Callahan, because she is friendly while wolves are very destructive.
Callahan said she had offered to perform a USDA blood test for Dakota but has not heard a reply from Austin police.
Philipp said the department has been "inundated" with phone calls from all over the U.S. from people who are concerned for Dakota's welfare. Some of the callers are experts on wolves, who have offered to perform blood tests on Dakota. Philipp said the department won't do any blood testing.
"It doesn't matter to us as long as (the original owner) has found a new place for it," said Philipp.
Some of the calls police have received have been from people at wolf sanctuaries. According to Philipp, some of them believe Dakota is a dog. Others believe she is, in fact, a wolf. But to Austin police, Dakota's lineage is now a non-issue.
"It's not necessary to do its lineage because it's being adopted out to someone who doesn't care," Philipp said.
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