Four wolf-hybrids found

Friday, August 4, 2006

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Largo police and a code enforcement officer found four wolf-hybrids in the backyard of a home on 7th Avenue Northeast on Thursday.

The animals, found after neighbors reported a foul smell coming from the property, were severely malnourished and covered with fleas. Another wolf hybrid was dead, half-in and half-out of a water-filled container.

The SPCA says the animal died from anemia and starvation.

"The wolves didn't get in this condition in a day or two," said Connie Brooks from the SPCA. "This condition was on-going. They're

emaciated. You just don't get that way quickly. You can see ribs and bones in the bodies of the animals."

The property owner, 44-year-old Jimmy Walton, is a member of a local wolf rescue organization. But Largo police say the group is not officially sanctioned by any state or national organization. Walton is being charged with two counts of felony animal cruelty.

The SPCA will try to rehabilitate the animals, but because they are wolf-hybrids they are not adoptable. The SPCA will try to place them with another wolf rescue program.