Westmoreland woman found dead in wolf pen ("Wolf-hybrids" killed)

Pittsburg Tribune ^ | 7/18/06

[Mr. Brightside]

Westmoreland woman found dead in wolf pen

Wolf hybrids killed

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Humane agents warned a Westmoreland County woman it was only a matter of time before the wolf hybrids she kept as pets turned on her.

Authorities are trying to determine if the pets attacked and killed Sandra L. Piovesan, whose body was found mauled in the fenced pen where the hybrids were housed...

Piovesan, who lived alone, had raised and bred wolf hybrids for several years, sometimes drawing complaints from neighbors.

"Everybody told her this would happen, but she just wouldn't listen. She was a very likable person, but she was just delusional about their danger, and totally misguided."

Wolves in the wild fear people because humans are their only predators, said James Paulson, outreach coordinator with Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in New Mexico. But wolf hybrids are more dangerous than wild wolves because they don't fear humans, Gower said...

State police Trooper Brian Gross said Piovesan's body was mauled "pretty bad" by the hybrids.

Gross said humane officers tranquilized the six animals before troopers shot and killed them...

She sometimes kept nearly a dozen wolf hybrids and occasionally invited visitors inside the pen to see them. She built a playground with tunnels and climbing stations for the animals.

Wolf hybrids do not make good pets, experts say...

"She loved those wolves just like pets. She told me she was part American Indian, and she told me it was part of her ethnic background," said Brian Gallagher, a longtime friend.

"They were all one pack ... including Sandra, who was considered the leader of the pack. I think one of them may have wanted to take over as leader of the pack." ...

Gieselman said Piovesan fed the hybrids roadkill.

[garyhope]

"Wolf attack ping."?

ROFL.

[RasterMaster]

Afterward, one wolf-dog was overheard saying aloud, "tastes like chicken"!

[rintense]

Of course not. That many will adopt their instinctual pack mentality. The probably viewed the woman as the lowest female in the pack.

[Shyla]

Not a wolf. It was a wolf dog cross. Hufe difference.

[Shyla]

Oops - make that huge.

[Shyla]

If the wolves were left to roam the woods, there would be none left. In the lower 48 they were killed off and were on the most part, extinct.

I myself, have large enclosures for my two, pure wolves. I also have an area that they can run free to their hearts content.

Wolf dogs are not the same as wolves.

[Ladysmith]

ROTFLMAO!! FUNNYYYY!!!

[Tired of Taxes]

That is horrible. What became of the wolf-hybrid's owners? If that happened to my family, they would become victims themselves.

[BruceysMom]

I raised wolf hybrids for 10+ years. My dogs were mostly GSD with a small amount of Timber wolf. Timber wolves are small and timid, yet I still don't think it's a good idea. Too many people that can't control their cocker spaniel, yorkie, scottie. None of them smart enogh for a hybrid. I got out of the business even though none of my dogs ever harmed anyone. I have always been against any kind of wolf crossed with husky or malamute. Not a stable personality in the bunch.

[Red Badger]

I'm not sure what happened to the owners of the wolf-hybrid, but I know the boy's family sued and won a large sum from the homeowner's insurance...........

[HankReardon]

Lesbian frog says to the other lesbian frog, "HEY! They're right, we do tastes like chicken!"

[SoothingDave]

Woman bled to death

Sandra L. Piovesan was killed by her own hybrid wolves. An autopsy on the Salem Township woman revealed she bled to death after being mauled by hybrid wolves she raised as pets, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner's Office.

Piovesan's body was found Monday by her daughter inside an electrified pen Piovesan erected more than a decade ago at her Croft Road home to contain the animals, which were part dog and part wolf.

The autopsy by Dr. Cyril H. Wecht quelled speculation that Piovesan, 50, might have fallen ill after entering the pen to feed the animals and was then attacked.

[WorkingClassFilth]

The ping was for SJackson and his upper midwest list on resource issues. Yeah, I also know it was a wolf-dog cross.

There are many outdoorsmen (and women) who do not share the all too common belief that wolves are harmless icons of wilderness purity. In the last year, alone, one Canadian man was attacked, killed and partially eaten by wolves and two other wolf attacks have been documented. Farmers, ranchers and others that make their living in the northern woodlands are quite often not as fond of the wolf as many urbanites are. For many of us in the Minnesota, Wisconsin and UP area, the concern over coexistence with wolves is real.

The problem with wolves today is that they are not afraid of humans for a wide range of reasons. Chiefly, they have been fostered and protected under the ESA to the point where they are danger to pets, livestock and now, humans. In the past, they were hunted relentlessly and had a very justified fear of humans. Even so, many accounts of wolf attacks exist in the personal accounts of frontier men and women. Too bad science won't accept testimony of first hand observers unless they are "scientifically trained".

Even today, the arrogance of certain strains of DNR and academic biologists will not accept first hand reports of anything that does not fit their personal beliefs and agendas. Case in point: For over a decade in Minnesota, hunters and those who live in deeply rural areas reported cougar sightings to our DNR. Fat chance, said the DNR. Finally, one was killed when hit by a vehicle. The DNR was forced to admit that the local reports were true. Still, no bounty was set and the animals are protected. In the last few years, one cougar was actually shot in a metro park connected with the local riverine system. Another was photographed in the same water shed in the TC suburbs. At some point, a cougar is going to kill and eat some shlub, like they routinely do out west where their populations are much higher. Of course, the environmentalists and many entrenched natural resource agencies in the urban core will poo-poo such an incident and call for protection of the poor cougars.

For my money, I'd like to see large predators put on bounty lists again. In lieu of that, let the conscience of the individual dictate the course of action when dealing with these predators. Usually that means SS&S.

[nina0113]

wolf ping

[ilovefords]

You’re right. Wolves themselves are raised with fear of humans, and if they are befriended by a human that turns into a respect. But when you remove the respect and decrease the intelligence by breeding with a domestic dog, it gets stupid and mean. Plus, the lady had 12. Ridiculous. If she was wise she would have had one full-blood wolf and space to let it roam. Then they’ll be your friend for life, just like a dog (my uncle had such a setup). BTW, there are no documented cases of actual wolf attacks on humans. Only wolf-dog hybrids.

[ilovefords]

Uhh.... why do you think the wolves attacked fronteirsmen? maybe because frontiersman were killing them!?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Uh, no. Wolves saw the frontiersmen as prey like any other predator. Because the frontiersmen (and women) hunted and killed them, they eventually became hyper-cautious with humans. Today, that fear is gone, populations are up in both clans and predators will do what predators do.

[WorkingClassFilth]

BTW, there are no documented cases of actual wolf attacks on humans.

False. Do your homework. Several attacks in the last couple years and one pack kill of a person (partially consumed).