Loose wolf-dog killed family pet, says B.C. couple who wants animal caught - Action News
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British Columbia

Loose wolf-dog killed family pet, says B.C. couple who wants animal caught

A couple on Vancouver Island say their French Bulldog was killed by a large wolf-dog that has been wandering the region, evading the traps set for it.

Wolf-dog has managed to evade traps, animal organization says

Wolf-dog hybrid kills beloved pet, remains on the loose

7 months ago
Duration 1:43
A Coombs, B.C., couple say they are grieving the loss of their pet after it was fatally attacked by a large wolf-dog mix-breed that has been wandering southeastern Vancouver Island. They are calling for action to capture the animal, which is believed to have been abandoned at the end of September.

A couple in Coombs, B.C., saytheirpet was killed by a wolf-dogthat has been wandering southeastern Vancouver Island,evading the traps set for it.

Residents in the areaare being asked to keep an eye out for the large canineand the couple is asking for more to be done to capture the animal.

Greg Salmon says he and his wife Carolynn Marchildonwere walking at theCoombs Country Campground Saturday morning when awolf-dogsnatched their French bulldog namedOcean.

"I got about three-quarters of the way through, and this wolf comes out of nowhere, grabbed Ocean, broke my finger, broke the leash, [and] ripped it right out of my hand," Salmon told CHEK News.

A French bulldog sitting on a couch.
Greg Salmon says his French bulldog, named Ocean, was snatched and killed by the wolf-dog hybrid. (Provided by Greg Salmon to CHEK News)

Salmon said he chased after the animal, which had Ocean in its teeth.

"I started running and yelling and making as much noise as I possibly could and that thing wouldn't stop," an emotional Salmon said. "And I rantill I couldn't run anymore."

They later found blood-soaked leaves, he said.

Wolf-dog evades traps, dubbed WD-40

Gary Shade, co-founder of Find Lost and Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island, told The Canadian Press earlier this month thatit's believed the approximately 68-kilogram dog was abandoned at the end of September and may have been at least partially domesticated before becoming too much for its owner.

Marchildon says she hopes to see wolf-dog breeding banned and serious consequences, including possible jail time, for people who abandon the animals.

"This person has intentionally released a serial killer out into the wild," she said.

Picture of wolf-dog dubbed WD-40.
A wolf-dog like the one pictured is believed to be responsible for the killing of Greg Salmon and Carolynn Marchildon's French bulldog. Efforts to trap the animal, believed to have been abandoned at the end of September, have been unsuccessful. (Find Lost and Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island)

Shade says the animal was first spotted by a local woman who has her own pack of wolf-dogs but she was unable to catch it and her trap was damaged when it accidentally trapped a bear cub instead.

Georgina De Caigny, who runs Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in Rocky View County, Alta., sayshumans have failed the wolf-dog, which is now resorting to desperate measures to stay alive.

"The biggest thing that we see all the time is people get into wolf-dog ownership with completely unrealistic expectations of what owning an animal like this is actually like," she told CBC News. "That is what ends up resulting in a lot of these animals either being abandoned or ending up in shelters or being euthanized, that kind of thing."

De Caigny says there needs to be more education around the fact wolf-dogs should not be purchased as pets, and that they are often too wild to behave as a domestic pet.

The dog has been dubbed WD-40 by rescuers, as it has approached the trap multiple times but always manages to slip away despite the smells of beef, tripe and other enticing foods used as bait.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said the wolf-dog is not within its jurisdiction because it does not meet the definition of wildlife.

Photo of a trap and possible wolf-dog in southeastern Vancouver Island.
Find Lost and Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island says the animal has approached a trap multiple times but managed to slip away. (Find Lost and Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island)

"Fromwhat we understand, he was dumped out of a vehicle," Shade said of the animal. "Now as soon as conservation heardthat, they said, 'Oh, we'renot touching it,'even though he's probably 90 per cent wolf."

The Regional District of Nanaimo says it hasn't received a formal report of a dog being killed by a wolf-dog in Coombs, which is within its district boundaries.Coastal Animal Control Services, the region's animal control contractor, has set up a trap in an undisclosed location to try to capture the animal.

Two people stand in a park.
Salmon and Marchildon say more needs to be done to capture the wolf-dog before it kills or injures another pet. (CHEK News/Oli Herrera)

The district says anyone who spots a wolf-dog should contact Coastal Animal Control Services, noting that the districtdoes not have jurisdiction on provincial Crown land or within municipalities.

Shade says he hopes theBCCOS will tranquilize the animal, adding that there is a shelter in Alberta willing to take it in.

Marchildon told CHEK News she is frustrated by the lack of action.

"This thing falls in the middle of nobody's responsibility, and it just gets to run wild like a serial killer, killing everything it can see," she said.

With files from Maryse Zeidler, BC Today, CHEK News and The Canadian Press