By: Doug Speirs
AN Oakbank-area family say they lived through a “nightmare” this week when one of their beloved pet dogs was dragged away and mauled to death by a massive wolf.
“It was a complete and total nightmare,” Janelle Carlson, 39, said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Carlson said her husband, Jeff, took the family’s two dogs — an 11-pound, two-year-old chihuahua, miniaturepinscher cross named Spencer and a 12-year-old Lab-shepherd cross named Buddy — outside just after 7 a.m. Tuesday.
She said the two dogs wandered into the woods beside their home, which is located about two kilometres south of Birds Hill Park, to do their business.
“The dogs walked quietly into the woods, sniffing, and the next thing my husband heard was a sound like screaming, a sound you don’t hear from a dog normally,” she said. “Spencer was screaming for his life.”
Carlson said her husband ran towards the noise and “when he got there he could see the rear end of a wolf in the woods through the trees. The wolf was huge. He thought it looked to be the size of a deer and my husband is 6-7 (tall).
“The wolf was shaking and shuddering because it was trying to tear Spencer apart. Then Spencer’s screaming stopped. Spencer was just a tiny little thing.”
Her husband raced back to the house, then the couple returned to the woods, where they found Spencer’s mangled body lying dead in the brush.
“We tried to revive him, but there were no signs of life. He had been dead for several minutes. We miss him. This dog was so good,” she said.
The couple reported the tragedy to Manitoba Conservation.
“They came out Wednesday and we showed them the site,” Carlson said. “They’ve passed the case to wildlife officials and they’re deciding what to do.
“I’m hoping they don’t kill the animal. I hope they relocate it.”
But Barry Verbiwski, a human and wildlife conflict manager with Manitoba Conservation, said that’s not an option for a wolf that has killed a pet.
“Now they are habituated to dogs as an easy source of prey,” Verbiwski said.
“If we trap and relocate it, we would be moving a problem elsewhere or it would be killed by other wolves in the new area.”
Verbiwski said there are two problem wolves in the area, because another dog, weighing 30 pounds, was killed in Birds Hill Park last Tuesday.
“The Manitoba Trappers Association has been contacted by us and a trapper or hunter has been assigned to remove the offending animals.”
He said the animals will be euthanized after being trapped.
Verbiwski said until then conservation officers will warn area residents and park visitors about the pair of wolves, to keep their pets on leashes, and they may put up warning signs.
Verbiwski said they knew the two wolves had been in the area since January, but they hadn’t bothered anybody until recently.
Carlson said she and her husband, parents of an 18-month-old girl, worry about the safety of children in the area.
“The wolf definitely hunted Spencer,” she said. “Manitoba Conservation said there are no known reports of wolves attacking humans in Manitoba.”
She said it marks the first time they’ve seen a wolf in the area, but noted it’s common knowledge among residents the predators roam the region.
“For us, it was a complete shock,” she said. “We didn’t know and I guess we should have. We want other pet owners to be cautious.”