The operator of a Bow Valley animal rescue organization seeking to amend one of the MD of Bighorn’s land-use planning districts to allow her to continue operating a sanctuary for wolfdogs has said she is confident she can and has addressed potential concerns.
Georgina De Caigny, one of the founders of the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary, has applied to the MD to amend the Rural Recreation District (R District) to include a commercial kennel as a discretionary use.
This amendment, if approved, would allow De Caigny to keep a maximum of 15 dogs on site at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary’s two-acre parcel of land located off Highway 1X adjacent to the Brewster’s Kananaskis Golf Course.
Currently, De Caigny is only allowed to have three dogs. It’s a number she said she has exceeded, which led to a complaint filed with the municipality.
That in turn led the MD to begin the enforcement process.
At a March Bighorn council meeting, MD planner Tracey Woitenko said in the R District, rather than issue a stop order, administration was giving De Caigny time to rectify the situation.
A public hearing on the proposed amendment is scheduled to occur in the MD’s council chambers in Exshaw on May 7 at 7 p.m.
If the R District is successfully amended, De Caigny will still have to apply for a development permit.
De Caigny founded the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in 2011, making it Canada’s only wolfdog rescue organization, to create a facility to rescue wolfdogs and educate the public about these mixed-breed canines and their close relatives, wolves.
“Our main focus is definitely rescuing wolfdogs,” De Caigny said March 18. “One of the big problems when it comes to wolfdogs is they are seen as a novelty or as an exotic pet, so people get these animals thinking it is not going to be any different than owning a regular dog, and it definitely is, and people get these guys and then six months in they’re saying, ‘this is not working, I can’t handle this.’ The vast majority of them get euthanized.”
De Caigny said wolfdogs have differing levels of wolf and dog in them, ranging from low to high content of wolf genes. Low content wolfdogs are essentially dogs with a little bit of wolf in them.
But as a result of many misconceptions about these animals, and the amount of work required to successfully keep a wolfdog healthy and happy, De Caigny said wolfdogs that end up in government-funded shelters, such as the Calgary Humane Society, are euthanized.
Those organizations, she said, are not allowed to adopt them out due to liability concerns. Wolfdogs are perceived to be in the same class as other high-risk breeds, she said.
While she has no statistics of how many wolfdogs are euthanized in shelters across Canada, De Caigny said in the U.S., 200,000 wolfdogs are destroyed each year, specifically because the people buy these animals for the wrong reasons and are then forced to give them up.
De Caigny said having a wolfdog as a pet is challenging, but not because they are aggressive. High-content wolfdogs, like wolves, are very timid, she said, but given their wolf-like behavioiur, they are a high maintenance pet and labour intensive.
Wolfdogs, however, are worth the work for people willing and able to take into account the special needs and requirements, she said.
“One of the things I enjoy most about these animals is they are extremely intellectual animals and they are very self aware and independent,” De Caigny said, adding they can also be quite gentle.
“Living with these animals, I compare it more to living with a monkey than a dog. They’re so interactive and if you are doing it right, you as the human are their most important pack member, so they always want to be around you and they always want you to communicate with them,” she said.
One result of their intelligence is that wolfdogs are escape artists, which is why De Caigny has fenced the property with an eight-foot-high chain link fence, complete with an overhang and a line of electric fencing at the top.
Although she said the fencing looks intimidating, perhaps reinforcing the idea that the wolfdogs are dangerous, De Caigny said the fence is there to protect the wolfdogs. Given their ability to escape and their appearence, a wolfdog on the lam could easily be mistaken for a wolf and be legally shot or trapped.
But their timid nature and the fact that rescued wolfdogs will not have developed any bonds to De Caigny means an escapee would likely flee the area.
“We do have extremely secure containment, but for the golfers it can look intimidating. That is just us being careful. Secure containment is always number one because if you can’t contain these guys at home, the rest doesn’t matter because something bad is going to happen to these guys.”
Also, in terms of noise, wolfdogs generally do not bark, but they certainly do howl, De Caigny said.
“They howl maybe for a minute or two a few times a day,” she said, adding they do howl when they hear sirens.
De Caigny said she lives on-site and does not leave the animals unattended.
Since rescued wolfdogs usually require rehabilitation alongside training, De Caigny said she only plans to keep two to three wolfdog rescues at one time. She does have three wolfdogs of her own and five dogs.
High-content wolfdogs are also very independent and unlike most dogs, not interested in pleasing people. Low-content wolfdogs, however, are closer to dogs and more likely to act like a dog.
That is not to say that high-content wolfdogs are incapable of being socialized. De Caigny said her high-content wolfdog, Kuna, loves being around children.
“We socialize Kuna extremely well to kids and she loves kids. She is way more affectionate and outgoing when we have visitors that bring their kids along. That comes down to socialization,” she said.
Reputable breeders, she said, work to maintain the “wolfy” look in the animal, while breeding for a good temperament and ensuring puppies are well socialized. Unreputable breeders, however, see easy money and often don’t socialize puppies or put much thought into what type of dogs they add into the mix.
One breeder, De Caigny said, was breeding wolfdogs that were part wolf, part malamute and part pit bull, setting those animals up to become “fear-aggressive animals,” which, like any fear-aggressive dog, can be dangerous.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about these animals happens when a lot of young guys get them and they think they’re going to be great guard dogs because they are part wolf. But if you know anything about wolves you know they’re extremely shy and timid animals,” she said.
“Even for our high content wolf dogs, if a person was to threaten me, these guys would be in the farthest corner. But if it was a bear or cougar, they’d probably stand up for me. They’re not guard dogs at all.”
For more information, go to yamnuskawolfdogsanctuary.com
