MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WKRC) – A local animal habitat is preparing to accept several wolf dogs rescued from horrific conditions.
Advocates said that loopholes in the fur and urine farm industry are putting animals like wolf dogs at risk.
The Red Riding Hood Rescue Project in Middletown cares for dozens of wolf dogs, animals that are either partially or completely wolves.
And they’re about to get company, as three wolf dogs from this rescue operation in Ashtabula County are on their way. Law enforcement called in the Humane Society in January when they found more than 400 animals—skunks, wild boar, coyotes, and wolf dogs—in deplorable conditions.
Susan Vogt is the president of the Red Riding Hood Rescue Project:
“There was a lot of death. There were injured animals kept in tiny wire-bottomed containers the size of a lobster trap,” said Vogt.
330 animals were saved, but 100 had to be put down. They were part of a fur and urine farm.
“They are simply producing urine,” said Vogt. “Urine that’s in garden centers for deer deterrent, hunters as lures, or the manufacturing of perfumes, this is the reality of how it’s harvested. Then, after two years, these animals are electrocuted and pelted.”
Trapping, pelting, and urine collection are legal in most states, including Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
“A lot of farmers call because they have problems with animals getting into their livestock, their crops, and destroying the infrastructure, so most trapping today is done for wildlife management,” said Dave Linkhart with the Ohio State Trappers Association.
Linkhart said that oversight is necessary to make sure animals are treated humanely, and Ohio State Representative David Thomas, (R)-Jefferson, agrees. It’s why he’s drafting legislation to fix the lack of oversight issues.
“We’ve got great laws on wild exotic animals,” said Thomas. “We have great laws on farms and domesticated pets, for example, but there’s really not much in between when it comes to things like wolves, foxes, and skunks, these types of animals.”
When the three wolf dogs that were rescued in Ashtabula are brought down to Middletown to the Red Riding Hood Rescue Project, they’re going to be met immediately by 23 new friends already living on property. And with the help of some employees from GE Aerospace, who had seen the story and turned out on Friday in force to build new habitats, the new wolf dogs will have a comfortable way to live out their lives.
Representative Thomas said that he plans to meet with interested parties over the next several weeks and introduce legislation this session to fix the lack of oversight for fur and urine farms in Ohio.
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