In the past decade, the media has published a number of sensational articles about so-called "wolf hybrids" by which inaccurate name they refer to the offspring of wolves and dogs. In response, twenty-five states have passed some legislation or regulation relating to these canids. United Kennel Club opposes the regulation of wolf-dog crosses for the following reasons:
 

* The most recent molecular genetic evidence shows that wolves and dogs are genetically identical.

* The American Society of Mammalogists have reclassified dogs as a subspecies of wolf (canis lupis familaris) and this is the view of the majority of taxonimists.

* A comparative study of behavior showed that of 90 different behavior patterns found in dogs, all but 19 were also found in wolves. These 19 were all considered minor behavior patterns which the researchers believe probably do occur in wolves but have not yet been observed.

* Since, at the present time, there is no means by which to distinguish wolf-dog crosses from dogs, either by DNA or by the animal's appearance or behavior, it is impossible to enforce regulations aimed at wolf-dog crosses. In a recent telephone survey of the persons administering "wolf hybrid" regulations, most freely acknowledged that such rules were extremely difficult to enforce, primarily due to the inability to identify the object of the regulations. In the past decade, Tennessee and Oregon have rescinded their laws regulating wolf-hybrids because of the problems in adminstering the regulations. To date, every legal challenge to these laws has been won by the owner of the canid in question and nearly always on the grounds that such laws are unconstitutionally vague.

* Otherwise responsible owners of spitz-type breeds may find themselves the objects of harrasment by neighbors or animal control officers who may confuse these purebred dogs with wolf-dog crosses. This type of harrasment may generate expensive litigation and bad publicity.

You cannot regulate what you can't identify.

Fred T. Miller President,
United Kennel Club

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