In his article, "Bastard Wolf," Merrit Clifton uses a combination of misinformation, juggled statistics and pseudo-naturalist theory to damn the wolfdog as that Bastard Wolf.

Mr. Clifton's misinformation and statistic juggling is used to raise the apparent danger, to humans, of the wolfdog relative to other canines, thus allowing him to portray wolfdogs as "dangerous" animals which need to be regulated or banned.

How is this done? Mr. Clifton begins by underestimating the fatal attacks by all dog breeds *except for wolfdogs*. He claims that pit bulls attacks have resulted in the deaths of 21 people over a 15 year period, Rotts have killed 9, wolfdogs 11, and other breeds have minuscule amounts.

He cites a relatively obscure newspaper, _Animal People_, for his source on fatalities. Mr. Clifton neglects to tell us that he is the editor of and main contributor to _Animal People_. He is in effect citing himself as a reputable third party source. Mr. Clifton and _Animal People_ are not an unbiased source of figures on canine-caused fatalities; and the numbers he uses are, needless to say, far from accurate. This piece of journalistic trickery throws all his assertions into doubt.

Based on statistics gathered from more reliable and reputable sources  -- the Center for Disease Control and the Humane Society of the United States -- the facts are different. According to these sources, Pit Bulls and Pit Bull crosses killed 59 people in the 15 years between 1979 and 1993. German Shepherds and Shepherd crosses killed 22, Huskies killed 17, Rottweilers 13, wolfdogs 11, and Malamutes 10. All canines accounted for a total of 189 deaths during this period.

Based on faulty statistics, Mr. Clifton then leaps to the fabulous claim that pit bulls, rottweilers and wolfdogs have accounted for 85% of all fatal dog attacks. A more truthful accounting would have Pit Bulls responsible for 31% of all attacks, and with several other breeds accounting for a greater percentage than wolfdogs, and wolfdogs accounting for 6%.

Further, Mr. Clifton grossly overestimates the danger of the wolfdog by deflating the estimated number of these animals in the country -- which he says is "minuscule" and "barely a blip" in the overall canine population. This leads to the erroneous conclusion that a higher percentage of the wolfdog population is engaged in harming people. He cites membership in one association, the USAWA, as an indication of the wolfdog population. But he does not mention that the USAWA is only one of several wolfdog associations,
and neither does he mention that -- as is the case with most breeds -- the vast majority of owners do not join associations.

The Jack Hope/Smithsonian estimate of 500,000 wolfdogs in the United States may be a more accurate indication -- far from a minuscule number, but approaching 1% of the entire canine population. The best estimate of the actual danger of the wolfdog as compared to other canines was published by Cliff Mortimer of the Guardians of Wildlife:

"The following statistics were compiled using the  number of reported attacks per breed vs total population of breed for a 15 year period (1979-1994) and is shown as a yearly average. The HSUS [Humane Society of the United States] wolfdog population estimate was used: 300,000 wolfdogs. All other breeds were compiled from AKC population estimates for registered & unregistered animals.  Numbers of fatalities are from CDC reported fatalities for the 15 year period.  An average population density % was used for wolfdogs based on AKC population changes for all breeds.

            " Fatal Attacks by Breed Shown as a
           Percent of the Total Breed Population
           ===========================
                 1.  Pitbull terriers               0.35%
                 2.  Siberian Huskys           0.0012%
                 3.  Alaskan Malamutes      0.0007%
                 4.  German Shepherds      0.0005%
                 5.  Rottweilers                   0.0003%
                 6.  Wolfdogs                      0.00025%"

Reading this table, one would expect that, for example, 3 out of every 1000 pitbulls have engaged in a fatal attack against a human -- a surprisingly high number, but apparently justified by the high numbers of pit bull-caused fatalities. Other listed canines tend to engage in such attacks in the range of a handful of attacks for every one million animals. What pattern emerges here? Clearly, the wolfdog is not as dangerous as several other breeds, in particular some of  the breeds that have been bred by man for protection or attack.

Having grossly over-estimated the danger of the wolfdog,  Mr. Clifton goes on to explain why they are supposedly so dangerous, and in doing so,  he perpetuates myth and psuedo-science. He says,

"At the same time they have no chance to learn which other animals are their natural prey. They retain their killing instinct, devoid of  context. Other dogs may attack out of territoriality, fear, or in response to other apparent provocation, but a wolf hybrid may attack a child simply because he/she is there."

The myth perpetuated here is that of the "killer predator," or specifically in this case, the "man-eating wolf."  It is well-established that the wolf or other predators learn to prey, and learn what is prey, from their parents or their pack.

One only has to look at the numerous unsuccessful attempts at re-introducing human-raised wolves into the wild: the animals who don't learn to hunt and kill from their parents when they are young, do not turn suddenly turn into killers as adults. This fact may also help explain why there is no documented case of healthy wild wolves killing a human being in the history of North America.

Now certainly, we've all seen dogs and certainly cats prey on birds and other small animals. They can learn something through instinct without being taught by their parents. But there is another effect, which was neatly described in a recent _Nature_ documentary on cats. The documentary showed a mother cat nursing her litter, with a small white mouse crawling all over her at the same time. The mother cat was a kitten when introduced to the mouse, and instead of seeing it as prey, learned that it was simply another part of the household. Similarly, her kittens would never see the mouse as prey.

In other words, the overwhelming effect of inter-species bonding at an early age can eliminate the prey attitude of the predator towards the prey species. Wolfdogs and dogs in general, if they are properly socialized from an early age, are not a danger to prey on humans, children or adults. The extremely small portion of the canine population, including wolfdogs -- that do engage in fatal attacks for whatever reason -- are the sorry and tragic exceptions that prove this rule.

Mr. Clifton uses this combination of misinformation and pseudo-science to join the chorus of Big Bad Wolfdog haters who want to eliminate this beautiful, graceful, intelligent and sensitive animal as a companion in  perhaps hundreds of thousands of homes in our country.

As is the case with any large canine, the wolfdog is a "large strong animal with big teeth". And as some 189 human deaths between 1979 - 94 show, all large canines need to be treated with respect and caution, and no large canine should be left alone with small children.  There needs to be a great deal of public education on canine behavior and against the abuse of canines.

But it is grossly unfair and malicious to select out the wolfdog, call it a "Bastard," and then use inaccurate numbers, manipulated statistics and faulty science to call for its damnation.