Indiana Mystery Canids Video
Posted by: Loren Coleman on May 23rd, 2008
David Shetley has posted for Cryptomundo the following news video on YouTube of the Gatchel, Indiana, mystery canids.
The on-camera reporter warns you it is graphic. After what you’ve all gone through this week at Cryptomundo (black panther killings, the Bigfoot massacre theory, and now this mystery pack of canids being killed), you may find this video is rather tame.
The species remains unidentified.
Why searching for more on this new Indiana report, I came across the following video, “Indiana Wolves,” which will serve as today’s respite from all the talk and images of the killing of animals. Enjoy.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
After viewing the videos I am more convinced than ever that they are wolfdogs, probably recently released or escaped from their owner. They look too well-fed and even sort of fat too have been running wild for very long. Their coats are in real good shape too; no sign of mange or matting, so big wads of spring-shed fur hanging in the coats the way you often see with wild wolves at this time of year. But what clinches it for me is the closeup of the paw: the toenails have been trimmed square with dog nail clippers. These claws are hand-trimmed claws, not naturally worn claws. Naturally worn claws wear to a blunt point.
These are someones’ pets that either escaped or were deliberately let out. My guess is that, unless someone blows the whistle on them, whoever owns these animals will stay mum. At the very least, the owner should pay the vet bills for the dogs that were attacked. I don’t know what Indiana law says about the matter, but the owners may be guilty of other charges as well, starting with violating leash laws and allowing vicious animals to run free.
“But what clinches it for me is the closeup of the paw: the toenails have been trimmed square with dog nail clippers”
-good points the coats are rather nice and they have nice bellies
nothing wrong with owning animals, but it comes with responsibility… If the owner is watching the news it must really suck to see the tragedy… his or her dogs killed and other dogs attacked…. thats gotta be some tough stuff to deal with
not good for anybody
what would really suck is if there was a back plot to how they got out …
Is it bad to like the idea of wolves coming back to IN?
There isnt much space for them sadly…
I do like the idea of wild native wolves repopulating Indiana and in fact the entire East. By that I mean wild, native wolves, either returning on their own or as part of a well-managed and supervised reintroduction program. Wolfdogs are not wolves, however, and the idea of packs of stray or feral wolfdogs running around free is chilling.
I sympathize with the owners of the wolfdogs too; no matter what the animals did, they have obviously been well cared for by someone, who probably loves them. I loved Blue, even as I slipped the needle into her vein. Still, they should not have been running loose, and I wonder if, along with the sadness, the owner does not feel some small measure of relief.
I sympathize with the owners of these animals, but I sympathize more with the owners of the dogs that were mangled and now have to suffer through recovery. I’ve seen so many dogs torn limb from limb by other dogs, that I could not begin to count them. Dogs can do terrible damage to other dogs, and even if the injured dogs recover, there is the possibility of infection and abscess, tetanus, and even rabies to consider.
It’s hard when you come to the conclusion that your beautiful animal, maybe one that you have raised from a young age or maybe paid a lot of money for, is genuinely dangerous. There are a few wolf/dog hybrids that apparently retained a stable temperament throughout their lives, but they are the exception. Most wolf hybrids become very predatory as they mature; that is their nature. It is also their nature to challenge authority and exploit weakness. And they like to roam, whether or not they have been neutered. That is not a slur; it’s just a fact. Allowing them to run as a pack is inviting tragedy. Even dogs, plain old dogs of no uncertain size or kind, are dangerous in a pack.
It’s a shame to see those big beautiful animals lying there shot to death. It might not even be the owner’s fault that they got out. Once, when I was raising the litter of wolfdogs, they were about 12 or 14 weeks old, and a man stopped by to ask if he could buy one. I knew this man to be someone who was not a responsible pet owner, so I politely refused to sell him a pup. Later that night, after dark, I heard the mother howling in a strange way. I went out and saw a car pulling away. It was that guy’s car (although I could not prove it because I did not see the license plate). All of the pups were out, and the mother, who was in the kennel next to theirs, was frantic. One of the pups had gotten out to the highway and had been struck and killed by a vehicle, and as I ran about trying to get the others back inside, another pup got out into the road and was also struck and killed. The person had cut the wire on the side of the kennel and let the pups out, I presume to try to steal the big one that he had looked at earlier.
Maybe the owner of these animals didn’t just let his or her animals run free. Maybe they did not abandon the animals. It could be that someone had a grudge against this owner, or a misguided notion that “they were wolves and so they should be free”. Either way, the sad ending is the same for the animals.
I don’t want to see wolves, wolfdogs, and other exotics banned outright, because some of them do have good homes and responsible owners. But I think that the regulations pertaining to their ownership should be so strict and so strictly enforced that only extremely responsible, dedicated people would be able to acquire and keep them.