SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A lot of people living in Spokane Valley thought they saw wolves running through their neighborhood recently. But, it turns out they were not wolves at all.
A viewer sent KREM 2 News a picture of what they thought were wolves and we heard some chatter on the scanner about the animals. So, we sent the photo to Madonna Luers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Luers said the animals were easily identified as domesticated dogs. These are the three identifiable signs:
- The way they hold their tails with a slight curl at the end. Wolves tails don’t curl.
- Their legs are too short. Wolves legs are longer.
- Their thick coats. Wolves have thinner coats in the summer time. The coats on these dogs show signs of well-fed and well cared for domesticated dogs.
Luers said the owner of the dogs has been located and they are working with SCRAPS to get the dogs back into their custody.
She also noted that wolves in our area would not go trotting through a neighborhood. Wolves are very wary of people and do not venture in to large metropolitan areas.