Domestic Wolf Injures Northern Minnesota Girl
By Amanda Theisen, KSAX-TV and KRWF-TV, Alexandria MN, October 20, 2010 [here]
WITH VIDEO
A four-year-old girl from northern Minnesota is recovering tonight after her family says a wolf knocked her to the ground and bit her. This wasn’t a wild wolf, though. It’s domestic, owned by a man who lets people get up close to wildlife for a living.
Four-year-old Johnna Kenowski, known to her family as Johnny Mae, is normally all giggles and smiles. But if you take a closer look at her face, you’ll see what she calls her “owies” — a scab on her nose, a cut above her eyebrow, and a big scratch on her arm.
Johnny Mae’s aunt, Maja Dockal, says she and the girl were walking in Banning State Park near Sandstone Tuesday, when they came across a group photographing a domestic gray wolf and three cubs. Dockal says all of a sudden the adult wolf came up to Johnny Mae, then pushed her to the ground and bit her on the head.
A man named Lee Greenly owns the wolves and was able to get the wolf off the girl. Greenly owns Minnesota Wildlife Connection, where people can photograph animals like wolves, bears, and cougars, or have their pictures taken with them. … [more]
Thanks for the news tip to Julie Kay Smithson, Property Rights Research [here, here]
by YPmule
Wolf That Bit Girl to be Euthanized
10/21/2010 KSAX.com By: Lauren Radomski
Pine County authorities say they intend to euthanize the domestic wolf that bit a girl in northern Minnesota.
Four-year-old Johnna Kenowski received cuts to her nose and eyebrow area Tuesday as she walked with a relative in Banning State Park near Sandstone. Her aunt says the pair was walking near a group of people photographing a domestic gray wolf and three cubs when the adult wolf came up to the girl, knocking her to the ground and biting her on the head.
The wolfe belongs to the owner of Minnesota Wildlife Connection, where people can photograph animals like wolves, bears and cougars, or have their pictures taken with them. The owner says his animals are safe and have never attacked a human before.
On Thursday afternoon, the Pine County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy was en route to the Minnesota Wildlife Connection to euthanize the wolf. Tissue samples would then be sent to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Hospital to see if the animal’s brain showed signs of rabies.
Sheriff’s officials planned to ask the court for permission to euthanize the animal in the case the owner refused to allow it.