Officers in Bavaria to hunt and kill puppies born to wolf and domestic dog

In the German state of Bavaria, animal welfare officers state they will be hunting down and killing puppies born to a wolf that had mated with a domestic dog.

According to Newsweek, on Thursday, the Bavarian State Office for the Environment stated that genetic findings indicate the puppies are wolf dogs; the result of the mother mating with a domestic dog in the spring of this year. The hybrids were discovered after authorities had investigated that genetic traces of a wolf and her puppies had been found on the carcasses of three sheep in an area of Lower Franconia.

The German Federal Nature Conservation Act states the offspring of hybrids must be shot in order to protect the wolf population. During the 19th century, wolves were considered extinct in the country. In the 2000s they were reintroduced and environmentalists are afraid if they allow the genetics to mix, the purebred wolves could once again become extinct. In addition, the hybrids are not equipped to survive in the wild.

The puppies are now more than three months of age and will be hunted and killed. There has, however been a considerable amount of backlash about the killing of the pups – especially from animal lovers in the United States where hundreds of thousands of wolf-dog hybrids live as pets. Many animal welfare organizations still deem the hybrids as wild and discourage people from breeding and/or owning them.

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