Wolf attacks mount
Posted By Admin on August 26, 2011
A wave of attacks on family dogs has some Kenora pet owners concerned for the safety of their animals.
Three attacks on family pets near Kenora, believed to be wolf attacks, were reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources last week. The incidents occurred on Kendall Inlet Road, Stoney Bay Road and in Sioux Narrows.
Three in one week is interesting in terms of weve gone all summer and nobody has had any reports of timber wolves attacking dogs, said Leo Heyens, Lake of the Woods Area Supervisor for MNR.
The Bebchuck family, who live on Kendall Inlet Road, lost their 10-month-old cockapoo last Thursday after it followed a neighbour on their morning walk and was attacked on its way home.
It was a pretty traumatic time, said Elaine Bebchuk.
As summer residents from Winnipeg, the Bebchuks have been coming to Kenora for the summer for over 40 years, bringing their dogs with them. Always kept on a leash in the city, the summer was usually the time where their dogs could have the opportunity to run free, Bebchuk explained.
We really didnt think too much of it . . . she said. Its only in the last couple of years . . . that wolves have been around. We never used to be concerned about them. The kids were always going back and forth, and we never worried about it.
Anybody thats a pet owner knows what we feel like. Sad, guilty, like maybe he shouldnt have been free. If we get another dog he wont be free, which is a shame because for the past 40 years weve always had dogs out here.
Susan Kirian, whos husband discovered the Bebchuks dog, said the incident was very troubling for her and her family considering its far from the first attack theyve heard of.
Were just sickened about this . . . she said. The wolves are very brazen and theyre not afraid of people anymore. This is a huge worry for people here.
In the same week, local realtor Harold Warkentin witnessed a wolf kill his terrier mix while taking it for a walk near his home on Stony Bay Road.
The wolf turned around and ripped him apart right in front of me, that was it, he said. It was all done in a matter of minutes.
Though the incident was shocking, Warkentin commented that dealing with wild life is a reality of living in a forested area.
When youre living in the bush thats part of living in the bush, he said.
I guess I could take the blame for the fact that I didnt have him on the leash, and say if he were on a leash Id still have him. But its the option of the pet owner if you want to let the dog run free, you gotta take the consequences if that happens.
The rash of wolf attacks may not be a new phenomenon. Mort Goss, owner of Sure Thing and co-chairman of the Harbourtown BIZ, lost his 12-year-old family dog RedDog after a wolf attack last year. His three-year-old dog Fesic was killed by wolves only months after. Goss also owns another dog, Chico, who was with RedDog and Fesic during the attacks but managed to get away.
It was early in the morning, and both dogs were feeling pretty frisky and barking, he said. My wife went out to see what it was and my dog was nose-to-nose with a wolf with two others behind them.
It was pretty horrifying. He was an amazing dog. He was the dog at Sure Thing and everybody knew him.
The growing wolf population in Kenora is believed to be linked to the ample deer population, Heyens explained. Wolves also rely heavily on beaver as a food source, and because of the dry conditions that have prevailed this summer, much of that source has been used up.
What we believe is, because of the dry conditions, beaver are much more vulnerable to predation to wolves because they have a longer distance to go, he explained.
I think that that food source is getting used up as well. These wolves are going to be hungry … and if they encounter pets that are not secured, theyre vulnerable.
Heyens stressed the importance of keeping pets secured as such attacks can be unpredictable.
You dont know when an incident like thats going to happen, he said. If youre taking a dog for a walk, it doesnt matter if youre on the outskirts of town, if youre in town taking your dog for a walk down the road outside of town, it could happen at any of those kinds of locations.
We hope that thats not going to be a regular occurrence here, that were going to have to deal with this all the time. Theres not much people can do other than keeping the pets tied up.
He also noted the importance of securing the roof on a pets kennel, as wolves have been known to climb over kennels as large as 7 ft. tall.
No new wolf attacks had been reported to MNR as of Wednesday morning.
MNR is providing an online resource on how to prevent such attacks and what to do if you encounter a wolf entitled Living With Wolves, which can be found at www.mnr.gov.ca.
sarah.rose.petz@gmail.com
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