New Law Snaps At Hybrids

Mike Guffey’s three dogs jump into the air, eager for a pat on the head, when a stranger approaches their pen.

Guffey said that proves the dogs, two of which are part wolf, are not dangerous, despite a Grandview City Council move to amend the dangerous-animal ordinance to include wolves and wolf hybrids, animals that are part dog and part wolf.

“Too many people have read the story of Little Red Riding Hood then watched the Discovery Channel,” he said.

Mike and Gisela Guffey must now build a roof over the pen and muzzle the dogs when they are outside it. They also must now get rid of one of their dogs because the city refuses to renew their kennel license.

The city no longer will allow more than two dogs to be kept in a residential zone.

Mayor Jesse Palacios said the city is only trying to avoid a tragedy, such as a wolf hybrid biting a child.

Councilman Paul Boder, who lives a few blocks from the Guffeys, said the council also is trying to make sure the dogs aren’t disturbing neighbors. Their howling can be heard throughout the neighborhood, sometimes at 5:30 a.m., he said.

The Guffeys said their problems began in September when an article about wolf hybrids appeared in a local newspaper and featured them and their animals.

Soon afterward, the couple began getting anonymous telephone calls threatening to kill the dogs. Complaints were made to City Hall and the police department, and meetings followed between city officials and Mike Guffey.

The couple have been caring for wolf hybrids for about five years and say they have had no problems. Mike Guffey insists the problems come because people don’t know anything about wolves but what they read in fairy tales.

“These animals, they don’t even bother our cats,” he said.