Accounts clash over wolf bite
COCOLALLA — Strikingly different accounts are emerging after a child was badly bitten in the hand at a Bonner County business which aims to educate the public about wolves.
Julia Griffin of Naples said her daughter was given permission to pet one of the wolves housed in an enclosure during a tour of Wolf People’s facility on Sunday. Wolf People’s founder and operator, Nancy Taylor, flatly rejects the claim and insists the girl reached into the enclosure despite being warned not to.
The 6-year-old girl suffered deep puncture wounds to her left hand which Griffin said required more than a dozen stitches. The girl also suffered bruises to her arm from being pulled against the enclosure.
“My daughter stuck her hand up to one of the wolves and it just grabbed her and tried to pull her right through the chain-link fence,” Griffin said on Monday.
A tour guide heard the commotion and entered the enclosure, which prompted Honta Yo, a 2-year-old tundra wolf, to release his grip on the girl’s hand, according to witnesses.
The girl was taken to Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint, where she was treated and released.
The Panhandle Health District, which routinely investigates all reports of animals biting people, is looking into the matter, said district spokeswoman Cynthia Taggart.
Wolf People maintains Honta Yo is vaccinated against rabies, although Taggart said the vaccines are not licensed for use with wolves or wolf hybrids.
“It’s a complicated case,” said Taggart.
The girl’s family can request to have Honta Yo quarantined or euthanized, said Taggart.
“They’re at a point now where they’re waiting for the parents to make some decisions. No choices have been made,” Taggart said.
Griffin said she does not want to see the animal killed, although she feels Wolf People’s enclosures could be safer.
“It’s really great that they’re educating people about the wolf,” she said. “I just want there to be extra precautions taken.”
Taylor emphasizes the zoo-like enclosures are safe and there are numerous warnings. It’s the people in the isolated incident who were not, she said.
Taylor was guiding the tour the girl was on and said she warned the group Honta Yo is immature and might to try to grab hold of their belongings. Taylor said she had turned her attention to another wolf when the girl was bitten.
“When I turned back, this little girl had her arm all the way into the pen with four adults standing right next to her,” said Taylor, who feels the girl’s family bears some responsibility for what happened.
Taylor said Wolf People has a spotless safety record in it’s nearly 16 years of existence.
“It’s safe,” she said. “Unless you do something like sticking your hand through the fence when you’ve been told not to. And how do four adults let this little girl do that?”