Divided Board of Supervisors Makes Last Effort to Spare Condemned Wolf-Dog

A divided Orange County Board of Supervisors voted today to try to spare the life of a wolf-dog hybrid that was deemed vicious by the county’s animal control agency and scheduled to be euthanized.

Board Chairman Todd Spitzer and Supervisors Lisa Bartlett and Michelle Steele voted to ask Orange County Superior Court Judge Corey S. Cramin on Wednesday to let the dog, Karma, be placed at Full Moon Farm, a wolf sanctuary in North Carolina. Supervisors Shawn Nelson and Andrew Do opposed the move.

The move came after a contentious debate last week, when OC Animal Care Director Jennifer Hawkins, a veterinarian, stood by her designation of Karma as a vicious dog that should be put down. Spitzer said the board’s decision today was not meant to overrule Hawkins’ ruling, but to find a home for the animal.

Cramin previously ruled in favor of Hawkins and ordered that the animal be euthanized.

Spitzer’s motion to place the dog with the Wolf Mountain Sanctuary in Lucerne Valley last week failed when no one would second the move. The supervisors met behind closed doors today to discuss the 4-year-old husky mix’s situation.

In part, Hawkins declared the dog was vicious because it once killed two cats in Anaheim. It was impounded in May when its owners were arrested in a domestic violence dispute, and the couple’s four children -- ranging in age from infant to 8 years old -- were placed at the Orangewood Children’s Home, Spitzer said.

After Karma was impounded, OC Animal Care officials determined the husky was part-wolf, and could not be properly vaccinated against rabies. They also noted that the animal in 2012 killed two cats in its Anaheim neighborhood while roaming free, demonstrating that it is a vicious animal.

At last week’s board meeting, Spitzer argued that the dog was “neglected and not fed,” prompting it to hunt down the two cats.

“So hungry dog, neglected by drug users, gets out and does what it is trained to do -- goes after a cat just like Wile E. Coyote,” Spitzer said.

Hawkins said such behavior isn’t acceptable.

“It’s not common for dogs to be killing cats -- that is why this (vicious dog) code exists,” she said.

Hawkins conceded that it was a “tough call” to decide the dog’s fate, but she insisted the animal poses a threat to the public and needs to be put to sleep. Hawkins cited a separate incident in which the dog aggressively ran at a woman carrying a child.

“She had to throw water (at the dog) and run and try to get away from the dog,” Hawkins said.

Although Spitzer contended the dog did not knock down the woman or bite or attack the children, Hawkins insisted, “In my professional opinion that is very close to being aggressive,” Hawkins said. Nelson blasted Spitzer for wanting to go against the advice of the county’s professional animal care director -- as well as the judge who sided with Hawkins on the dog’s viciousness.

City News Service