Child mauled by suspected wolf mix; dog euthanized

WASILLA — A 5-year-old boy survived a dog attack over the weekend and the dog has been put to sleep.

Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation Chief Bob Haskell said his department calls such events “bite attack incidents,” but the word “mauling” would not be inaccurate.

“It was pretty severe,” he said.

Haskell said the boy went into the home where the dog lived and was bit on his face, abdomen and the back of his head on Saturday afternoon.

“Our information was coming from the mandatory reporting from the hospital, so I think the family took him to the hospital first,” he said.

Animal control responded to the scene on Joes Drive and talked to the dog’s owner, who handed the animal over to the borough to be put down.

Haskell said that though the dog was registered with the borough as a malamute, “it’s questionable. We’re looking into the possibility that it’s a wolf hybrid.”

He said the dog had been recovering from a gunshot wound received the week prior.

“It was shot last week and that was handled by the troopers and that was because it was chasing wildlife,” Haskell said Monday.

After the dog was put down, Haskell said, animal control removed its head and sent it to state officials to be checked for rabies.

The other option is to hold the dog in quarantine and watch it for signs of rabies.

“Because the owner surrendered it we went ahead and euthanized it instead of holding it for the 10 days,” Haskell said.

He couldn’t release names of the involved parties, he said, because the case is still under investigation. Efforts to reach the families failed.

Haskell said his department is researching laws regarding the keeping of wolves.

“If it is a wolf hybrid that particular section of the law is enforced by (The State Department of) Fish and Game,” Haskell said. “There is permitting that has to be done.”

He said that when the animal was registered with the borough it was just a puppy and the owners didn’t bring the animal to the shelter to be registered, so the borough had no way of knowing if it was a malamute or a wolf.

“We didn’t look at the animal but it would be difficult to tell even if they brought that puppy in for licensing,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.