THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070420
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Snowbound in Virginia Beach, Elizabeth Sills was getting by without power thanks to three kerosene lamps and a Sterno can for cooking. ``I'm a pioneer,'' she explained Tuesday.
She has been pioneering most of her 86 years to help people and animals cornered by adversity.
Her quest just now is supporting in the Virginia General Assembly a bill that aims to assure humane treatment of wolf hybrids and to safeguard the people around them.
In this crusade, her primary concern is to protect the people. In 14 years in the United States there are documented cases in which hybrid wolves have killed eight children, most of them between the ages of 2 and 4; injured 12 children seriously; and mauled, mangled and killed numerous pets.
When hybrid wolves are on the loose, they are apt to pursue any small creature as prey, particularly if it is running. ``It is in their nature,'' Sills said. The wolf hybrid needs lots of attention. They are active animals, she noted, and should be contained in a large space within very high - and costly - fences. If they are chained they quickly become vicious.
She and two other officials of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies, Teresa Dockery of Abingdon and Davin Pitches of Martinsville, brought a proposed bill to the attention of Del. George Grayson of Williamsburg.
Grayson joined with Del. James M. Shuler of Blacksburg, a veterinarian who also was framing a bill.
Together, working on a subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee, the two Democrats have produced what Sills calls an excellent set of regulations on how to care for the wolf hybrids and minimize the chances of their becoming a menace.
Most of the hybrids are kept under harsh conditions that tend to bring out the worst of the wolf and the dog, she said.
What happens, Grayson said Tuesday, ``is the cuddly little puppies turn into hundred-pound wild animals and maim children.
``Everyone from the humane society to the health care community to veterinarians believe that wolf hybrids should no longer be sold in the commonwealth. We would grandfather those owners who already have wolf hybrids but we would say that enough is enough.
``There tend to be trends in pets,'' Grayson said. ``Back in the '80s it may have been pot-bellied pigs. Now it seems to be fashionable to have wolf hybrids. They really do look like lovable pets when they are puppies, but they turn out to be otherwise. There's no way to vaccinate them against rabies, so it's a health problem from several angles.''
From the subcommittee the bill will go Thursday to the full committee. The bottom line, Shuler said, is to write a good bill that can be enforceable. by CNB