Reader Wendy Browne posted this photo of this wolf in my Facebook Group.
I did a reverse image search through Google, and it is a real image.
This wolf was killed in Russia, and it’s actually a good thing that the wolf hunters did kill it.
It was suffering from a severe spinal deformity– an unusually short spine. This same condition does occasionally pop up in dogs.
This wolf was most likely able to survive because it could eat what its pack-mates killed, but at some point, there could easily be prey shortage.
And this poor wolf would be the first to go.
And my guess it would be as humane a death as a bullet.
Was it killed anywhere near Chernobyl? :)
has been my thought, too …
I have no idea where in Russia it was killed. Of course, the border between Russia and Ukraine varies from day to day now!
It would have been really interesting to see it walking around alive. I can’t picture how that poor thing moved.
looks like a french bulldog !
This picture should never have been printed in the media for now it will give the Fancy an idea to come up with another breed of dog.
A radiograph showing the skeleton would be interesting. Are there actually vertebrae and ribs missing, or are they somehow crammed into less space? And how can organs function ? Amazing that it survived to maturity, poor thing.
I once had a soft coated wheaten terrier puppy born with five legs. All seven of its siblings were normal and survived. Therefore sadly I put the deformed puppy down almost immediately. When I wrote of this little tragedy in our club magazine another member got the committee to criticise me on the basis that I had put this newborn puppy down myself and did not get it done by a vet.
And so they should of. Your discussing! Why would you kill it instead of having a vet see to it? I know. You wanted to save money so you downed it. There is now way culling a puppy yourself can be call “putting it down” If you hadn’t been so tight and took it to the vet, I’m pretty sure the vet wouldn’t have put it down. Removing a 5th leg would be a relatively easy operation. People like you shouldn’t be aloud to breed animals.
I would question whether the 2 examples shown are from the same demographic region. Or for that matter from closely related packs of wolves. It would likely have to be a recessive trait carried by the parents. And if there is one or two examples…you’ll likely see more of this.
I want to know if this gene affecting the deformation occurs naturally in wolf population, or is it origin in the hybrisation with domestic dogs ? If it’s only possible for anyone to know, which I doubt.
It looks like a bulldog wolf cross!
Have you seen this? Looks like the same condition. http://gawker.com/this-dog-is-only-half-a-dog-1586893823
I happen to have a dog who is living with short spine and know of 8 others identified living and happy in this world.