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Michigan Department of Natural Resources / New York Daily News
The DNR and the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office removed several animals from Howling Timbers.
An animal rehabilitation center in the US is under investigation after a wolf-dog hybrid attacked the owner’s 2-year-old granddaughter and ripped one of her arms.
Conservation officials raided the Michigan facility on Friday (local time) and learned that the woman was “illegally raising and housing” a variety of wild animals, including foxes, coyotes and wolfdogs, a cross between a wolf and a dog, according to Michigan. Department of Natural Resources.
The investigation at Howling Timbers Animal Sanctuary in Muskegon began in August after an informant told authorities about the boy’s horrific encounter with one of the animals weeks earlier.
The girl allegedly put her right hand in a cage and a wolfdog “grabbed onto her arm,” authorities said in a press release. It took three volunteers to free the girl from the animal before she could be taken to a hospital, according to the statement.
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Sanctuary owner Brenda Pearson, who described the incident in a Facebook post last week, believes the girl was trying to grab the wolfdog’s collar when the animal tugged on her arm to escape.
“After she was rushed to the hospital, I went back to the corral and raised her little arm,” Pearson wrote. “I can still see him today. His little hand was still clenched as if he was still holding his neck.”
She said Child Protective Services investigated the incident and found no wrongdoing on her part.
But conservation officials say the woman was operating the facility without the required permits, a claim she has flatly denied in a series of social media posts.
The state’s department of natural resources claims that Pearson has a history of criminal violations, had his wildlife rehabilitation permit revoked in 2010, and is currently not licensed to rehabilitate or possess the 47 wolfdogs on his property.
“She has been applying for licenses with different departments, but does not comply with the inspection,” said conservation officer Anna Cullen in a statement.
New York Daily News / Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Six red foxes, three coyotes, four eastern box turtles, and two fawns were moved to separate animal shelters.
“No person should be allowed near those dogs,” Cullen added. “It’s not fair to this kid who lost an arm.”
Following last week’s raid on the facility, officers removed six red foxes, three coyotes, four eastern box turtles and two fawns.
Pearson said he has run the sanctuary for 27 years and cares about wolfdogs because “they are not native to anywhere” and are considered a “domestic animal,” but he denies raising them, which is illegal in Michigan.
Pearson also said it has submitted all the necessary documentation, but is waiting for the state to comply with it. He accused the authorities of spreading a story “full of lies and misleading information.”
Her granddaughter is “fine” despite losing part of her arm, but has a “long way to go” in her recovery, according to a fundraising statement posted by a family friend on GoFundMe.
– New York Daily News
