Germany Orders Shoot-to-Kill for Hybrid Wolf-Dog Pups to Protect Local Wolf Populations

Authorities in the German state of Bavaria in the southeast have ordered that the pups of a wolf that had mated with a domestic dog be located and killed. The local wolf populations were safeguarded by the shoot-to-kill directive on the pups of the wolf-dog hybrids.

At the northwest corner of Bavaria, in the region of Lower Franconia, authorities recorded the wolf-dog hybrids. German law stipulates that to safeguard the local wolf population, these hybrid animals must be shot.

In the 19th century, wolves were hunted to extinction in Germany; however, they were brought back in 2000, and their numbers have been steadily growing ever since.

Wolf-Dog Hybrids

Animals known as wolf-dog hybrids are made up of a mix of domestic dogs and wolves. Given that domesticated dogs are related to wolves genetically and can therefore interbreed, this is possible.

Many people in the US keep wolf-dog hybrids as pets. According to one estimate, there are more than 300,000 of these hybrid animals in the country, according to data from The University of California, Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.

These hybrids, however, are not a recognized breed and are prohibited in many US states and jurisdictions. They are viewed as wild animals by some animal welfare organizations, such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who are against breeding and owning them.

Wolf-Dog Pets

According to the W.O.L.F. Sanctuary, wolf-dog mating does not commonly occur in the wild. For a variety of reasons, including the wish to domesticate a wild animal and the delusion that they are producing a superior "guard dog," people deliberately breed wolf dogs. Even choosing to have the "wolf look" is a superficial example. It is widely believed that mating domestic dogs with wolves will produce puppies with the perfect blend of domesticated and wild characteristics. However, attempts to "reinvent the dog" rarely result in the breed that the majority of people deem ideal.

The International Wolf Center says that owners of hybrids frequently discover that their pet is difficult to care for due to its behavior. Even within a single litter of hybrid pups, the genetic diversity causes a wide range of appearances and behavioral patterns, making hybrid behavior unpredictable and harder to predict.

Shoot-to-Kill

After examining the remains of three dead sheep, Bavarian authorities discovered genetic evidence of a wolf and her young in the Rhön-Grabfeld area of Lower Franconia.

According to genetic analysis, the mother wolf's act of mating with a domestic dog in the spring of this year produced the puppies, who are wolf dogs, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) stated.

The hybrids must be shot, per the German Federal Nature Conservation Act. According to a LfU spokesperson, breeding wolves and dogs results in genetic changes that may degrade the gene pool in wild animals.

Wolf vs. Dog

In contrast to domestic dogs, wolves are completely capable of living in the wild. According to officials, the long-term survival and existence of wolves in the wild can only be guaranteed if the animal maintains its environmental adaptations, which crossbreeding may jeopardize.

The LfU declared it would not take action to get rid of the mixed-breed puppies. Although removal can involve either catching or shooting the animals, authorities will choose "lethal removal" or shooting for hybrids that are older than three months old, as is the case in the current situation.

Authorities pointed out that animals born in the wild, such as hybrid puppies, are unlikely to be able to adapt to being permanently confined in an enclosure and would only suffer in captivity, Newsweek reports.