Slippery Wolf-Dog Hybrid Finally Nabbed In Ft Worth, TX

[Original headline: Officer captures wolf-dog hybrid]

FORT WORTH - Sarah, the shy and elusive wolf hybrid who has dodged and baffled animal control officers and police for more than two weeks, has been caught.

She was nabbed Monday evening beneath an abandoned house in the 3600 block of Avenue M, a block east of her home.

"Animal control officer Carl Johnson got her. He actually crawled on his stomach underneath the house with a pole and was able to get the animal out," said Jason Lamers, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Public Health Department. "We stuck with it for two weeks, and we finally got it."

A neighbor spotted the silver and gray animal and called police. Animal control officers arrived about 5 p.m., Lamers said.

Johnson, was off-duty Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. Animal control officer Angie Traister backed him up during the capture.

"She was scared, definitely nervous," Traister said. "Carl has that calming voice, that helped a whole lot. She didn't fight. It went real smooth."

Sarah was sharing the small crawl space with a little brown dog, but it wriggled away to freedom, Traister said.

Animal control officers and Fort Worth police, including Chief Ralph Mendoza, began an all-out search for the 70- to 80-pound wolf hybrid July 7. They combed alleyways and surveyed the area using police helicopters and officers on horseback.

Neighbors said the animal had been loose for a month and half. They became concerned and called police when Sarah aggressively confronted someone on the street.

"She'd got to be kind of a ghost dog," Traister said. "It was really exciting to get to a point where we could see her from different angles."

Her owner, Lloyd David Wright, 61, is being held in the Tarrant County Jail, accused of possession of a controlled substance, police said.

The neighborhood's numerous brush-filled alleys gave Sarah plenty of escape routes and hiding places. She seemed to do quite well on her own. Sarah had a lean build and did not appear hungry when she was captured, Traister said.

Sarah now dines on a mixture of dry and wet dog food, courtesy of Fort Worth animal control. An examination of her teeth revealed that she's about 2 years old.

It's taking Sarah a while to get used to her new digs. She sits quietly in the corner of her cage, despite her neighbor's noisy barks and yelps. She occasionally turns her head to survey her confined quarters.

"They're good dogs," Traister said. "You just have to give them time to adjust."

It's illegal to own a wolf hybrid in Fort Worth. Once Wright is contacted, he will have three days to contemplate Sarah's future. If he relinquishes custody, Sarah will be released to a nonprofit wolf rescue group, Lamers said.

• Story originally published by •
Fort Worth Star-Telegram / TX | Peyton D. Woodson - July 25 2001

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