Wolf-dog hybrid puts B.C.’s Bowen Island in ‘lockdown’

Postmedia News Feb 18, 2011 – 12:02 PM ET
by Sean Sullivan

Residents of British Columbia’s Bowen Island are in “lockdown” as a marauding wolf-dog hybrid that has killed at least one dog continues to be spotted across the island, leading fearful residents to keep children and pets indoors.

The community, just north of Vancouver, has called in a private trapper to catch the mysterious animal, which was first sighted on Jan. 20 by resident Ed Booiman after it had killed his dog Penny.

“It’s awful to witness,” he said. “It basically killed my dog within 50 feet of the house and then dragged it into the bush.”

Mr. Booiman, who had gone to look for Penny when she didn’t turn up for dinner, interrupted the animal as it was eating his dog.

Since then, one Husky-cross dog and a string of cats have gone missing, he said, and partially eaten deer carcasses have been found on the island. One of the island’s prized swans has also been found dead.

“(The sightings) have helped tie a lot of pieces of the puzzle together here on Bowen Island with respect to missing animals,” Mr. Booiman said. “It’s got everybody so nervous.”

Chris Buchanan, the island’s bylaw services supervisor, said he’s now receiving reports of sightings “almost daily.”

“The municipality has contracted a trapper to come to the island to capture the beast,” Mr. Buchanan said Thursday. “It could be someone’s pet, we don’t know, so we’re using a humane trap.”

The B.C. Conservation Service is not involved, Mr. Buchanan said, as it doesn’t respond to incidents related to domestic or feral dogs — only wildlife.

The island has no coyotes, and no wolf packs are known to live within 100 kilometres of Bowen Island, RCMP said. Discharging firearms is prohibited on the island, so it’s unlikely a citizen will dispose of the animal.

Mr. Buchanan said reports indicate the wolf-dog weighs about 45 kilograms.

Residents won’t feel safe until the animal is trapped and euthanized, Mr. Booiman said.

“Parents aren’t letting their children walk to the school bus and everyone’s keeping their pets on leash,” Mr. Booiman said.

“That’s not what life here is like.”

Postmedia News
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/18/wolf-dog-hybrid-puts-b-c-s-bowen-island-in-lockdown/