Oct 21, 2009 8:18 am US/Pacific
Dog Or Wolf? Minn. Police Confiscate Pet
AUSTIN, Minn.
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Dakota might still be at home on 11th Avenue were it not for a late-night call from her owner's mother-in-law. The woman called police around 3 a.m. Sunday.
CBS
People buy some pretty unusual stuff on Craigslist, but who would buy a wolf? Apparently, a man in Austin, Minn. did.
The animal, Dakota, looks like a dog. She whimpers like one and wags her tail like one. However, police say her owner has paperwork from a veterinarian that says she's a wolf.
That's a problem. It's against the law in the area to keep wolves as pets.
Dakota might still be at home were it not for a late-night call from her owner's mother-in-law. The woman called police around 3 a.m. Sunday.
"She went on to explain that her son-in-law had purchased a wolf and was now having that wolf reside in their home," said Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp. "She was concerned about the safety and welfare of her grandchildren."
The woman's son-in-law, Dustin Dennison, told police he bought Dakota on the Rochester Craigslist Web site.
The listing read: Arctic/Timber Wolf Needs a Home. Wonderful with Kids.
"Great, that's comforting," Melissa Grover said sarcastically.
She lives next door to Dakota's owner.
"You don't know is it going to bite your child, is it going to be a hazard or is it going to completely want to protect your child and not allow you around your child?" said Grover.
For now, Dakota is at the pound, while her owner tries to find her a new home.
"My only hope is that the animal doesn't get destroyed ultimately," said Philipp. "Because it seems like the animal, whether it's a wolf or mixed-breed or whatever it is, seems to be, by all reports, a nice animal."
The International Wolf Center in Ely has a wolf pack, but the Center's Executive Director Mary Ortiz said her staff would never try introducing a 1-year-old wolf.
"They would probably likely kill the animal," said Ortiz.
Ortiz showed pictures of Dakota to wolf expert Dave Mech. His e-mail opinion was, "Looks like a dog to me; possibly it has some wolf but hard to say."
Austin Police don't plan to charge Dennison with a crime. They say he didn't realize he was breaking city and county law.
According to the Department of Natural Resources, it's not against state law to keep a legally obtained wolf as pet. It may be against the laws of individual cities and counties. Lions, tigers, chimps and many other animals can't be kept as pets under state law.
CBS station WCCO-TV in Minneapolis tried to reach Dennison and the man who sold Dakota on Craig's List, but they didn't return our calls.
Craigslist prohibits selling household pets of any kind, including but not limited to dogs, cats, primates, cage birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians and fish. It seems to be a matter of semantics. The site prohibits "selling" but says it's OK to "re-home" animals and charge a small adoption fee.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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