Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors approved a new "canine hybrid ordinance" at the request of its animal control officers and the state Health Department. The law will not apply within the town limits of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, neither of which has an ordinance regulating the animals.
The board voted 7-0 for the ordinance after hearing from New River Health District Director Jody Hershey that there currently is no effective way to vaccinate wolf hybrids against rabies. Moreover, Hershey said, regulation makes sense as a means to prevent injuries.
Between 1981 and last year, captive wolves and wolf hybrids killed 11 children and seriously injured 16 others in attacks across the country, according to a report Hershey cited from the Humane Society of the U.S. and an Indiana wolf park.
The hybrids may be well socialized and considered affectionate pets, Hershey said, but they still have predatory instincts passed on in their wild genes. Those instincts lead to unpredictable, aggressive behavior, especially as a wolf hybrid reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 2 and 3.
The new law will require current and future owners of wolf-dog mixes to apply for a permit, go through a public hearing and meet several criteria, including obtaining a minimum of $250,000 in general liability insurance.
County officials brought the measure up because the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recently stopped regulating the hybrids. State game officials said their permitting process, launched in July 1993, was unenforceable.
County officials, on the other hand, say their local animal control officers will be able to enforce the ordinance using wolf hybrid identification techniques they obtained at a recent professional conference.
Only one person spoke in opposition to the new law before its adoption. Dave Trout said his family has had a wolf for nine months. "He's been a very, very good pet," Trout said. "We've never had that big of a problem. It shouldn't be [regulated] from a point of fear."
The state has told the county that only one family in Montgomery had a permit under the old regulating system, and that family is raising wolf hybrids, said Assistant County Administrator Jeff Lunsford. However, animal control Officer Kelly Walters reports there are several more wolf hybrids being kept in the county, Lunsford said. In recent weeks a classified ad has been published in the New River Current advertising "92 percent McKenzie Valley timber wolf cubs."
Christiansburg Town Manager John Lemley had no immediate comment Tuesday on whether the town would be pursuing a similar wolf hybrid ordinance. Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist said the issue has not come before the Town Council and he was not aware of any problems with wolf hybrids.
In other business Monday, the board:
Authorized hiring a consultant to make recommendations on an upgrade of the county's computing systems. This is the first step recommended by a committee of county employees and elected officials. The committee also has recommended spending $265,000 over the next two years to improve the E-911, tax assessment and collection, payroll and planning computer systems.
Heard from five Riner-area residents concerned about a proposed rezoning for a farm supply store between Tuckahoe Road in the Lawrence subdivision and Five Points Road along Virginia 8 in Riner.
Speakers said the area within sight of the Riner Volunteer Fire Department and Auburn High School is already too congested and dangerous to drive through. Charles Bowles said Lawrence subdivision land buyers were unaware the 5 acres were going to be developed for commercial use. "The way the Riner area's growing, the way it's for sale, they won't need a farm center," Bowles said.
Michael Gay, an engineer representing the developer, said the farm supply center would offer light hardware, fencing and other supplies. A future development would include professional offices for a dentist and others. The developer, Xpress Market Inc., has made a binding legal offer to plant a buffer of trees between his property and Tuckahoe Road in the subdivision.
After the public hearing, the county Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning request by a 6-2 vote. The Board of Supervisors will make a final decision at its Dec. 11 meeting.
by CNB