# Legality of owning a wolf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699 "2004-02-17T20:23:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/1 "2004-02-17T20:23:21Z")
I have just been introduced to the largest _dog_ I have ever seen. I do not think I have ever been in the presence of a wolf before. I have seen them at pow-wow’s on occasion and thought they were big…but I have never stood next to one and pet it’s head. It’s muzzle was nearly to my breast bone and it’s back was near my hip…I’m about 6’2". Very, very large animal. The gentleman who was owned by the wolf was visiting the campus biology department for a symposium on the wolf in the lower 48… I chatted it up with the guy for several minutes, he was from montreal and was a member of the Candian equivalent to the deptartment of the interior. I was amazed at the size of the animal and he was happy to tell me all about him…he weighed in at 110 kilos. I was amazed…he was very affectionate as well…My question is: Can people legally own a full blooded wolf in the U.S? (Putting aside ethical implications - I think it is wrong to own a wild animal) What would it take to own one? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/2 "2004-02-17T20:35:52Z")
Per the National Wolfdog Alliance - [Current State Regulations as they Pertain to Wolves and Wolfdogs](http://www.wolfdogalliance.org/legislation/statelaws.html) I only checked the Alabama Code, and they had quoted it correctly… > [@](#): > > **Title 3-8-1 Code of Alabama**. “Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, it shall be illegal to own, maintain, sell, or trade any canidae or felidae for which there is no USDA licensed rabies vaccine. Anyone currently owning or maintaining such animal (as of 4/5/94) may keep the animal for the length of the animal’s life providing the animal is spayed or neutered and is registered with the Department of Agriculture and Industries.” ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/3 "2004-02-17T20:44:53Z")
I know of no US statute prohibiting ownership,only local ones. Wolves,I’m guessing, would come under the "exotic animals"clauses in many jurisdictions.These either forbid,or restrict, such animals ownership. On another note I’ve seen 2 wolf hybrids,and both were of the size you describe.Both, also,acted like domesticated dogs. One of them put his front legs on my shoulders to be petted.He was as tall as I (6ft)in that posture.He also shed a ton of dog/wolf hair on my hands. Both were colored like a husky,black/gray/white ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/4 "2004-02-17T20:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > One of them put his front legs on my shoulders to be petted.He was as tall as I (6ft)in that posture.He also shed a ton of dog/wolf hair on my hands. Yes! This one was shedding a considerable amount of hair…can’t wait to ge thome and see what my dog thinks of the wolf smell on me! Another point, was that this wolf seemed to always want to know where people were around him, he was constently turning his head and looking quickly in different directions…Probably waiting for the gentleman I was talking to to loosen his grip so he could make a run for it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/5 "2004-02-17T20:56:37Z")
Are you sure this was a purebred wolf? That seems awfully large - more like a wolf_hound_ than wolf. This site: [http://www.wolvesontario.org/wolves/wolves/facts.shtml](http://www.wolvesontario.org/wolves/wolves/facts.shtml) says Canadian wolves range between 60 and 100 lbs., which is half the weight of the animal you saw. I have a friend who lives in Virginia and has a wolf hybrid (who weighed in at probably about 45-50 pounds). At the time he purchased her, it was legal to do so and to keep her as a pet, so the assumption could be made from there that the breeder must have been allowed to keep purebred wolves to breed from. I don’t know if that’s still the case today, though. Heck, you used to be able to keep tigers here in North Carolina until just a few years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/6 "2004-02-17T21:10:59Z")
No I am not sure it was purebred or not, I am sure on the size. It looked like a great dane but with 5 times the bulk. His paws were the size of my hands outstretched. Very large animal. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/7 "2004-02-17T21:27:49Z")
IANAL, so I do not want to comment on the legality issues other than to say that there is much variation on the state/city/town level. I AM a veterinarian, however and there are many reasons why owning a wolf or wolf-hybrid (or lion, tiger, or bear) is inadvisable. Commercially available rabies vaccine is not sold for wolves or wolf-hybrids. Liability issues force me to refuse to administer vaccine labled for use in dogs to a wolf or wolf hybrid regardless of how close the DNA happens to be. My insurance does not cover situations where a biological (vaccine) is used contrary to label directions. Therefore, I and many other veterinarians will not see a wolf or wolf-hybrid. Speaking of insurance…Homeowners policies are more and more reluctant to cover certain breeds (Pits, Rotties, Akitas, etc). I would not advise owning a wolf or wolf hybrid without having liability insurance in place. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/8 "2004-02-17T23:28:42Z")
I’m surprised a canine rabies vaccine wouldn’t work on a wolf, since they’re so close genetically. As for the law, the prohibition can be stated positively or negatively. For instance, there’s a fairly well-known effort to legalize pet ferrets here in CA, but the law doesn’t now say specifically that ferrets are illegal, just that all carnivores are except for Canis familiaris and Felis domestica. Interestingly the same law says that wild Primates of the family Hominidae may be imported and possessed, which, I’d say, opens one big nasty can of worms, or it would if not for the anti-slavery clause of our Constitution. If they mean to exclude the great apes, they may have to revise that statute before long. Statute [here](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=060304558+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve). ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/9 "2004-02-18T00:15:51Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’m surprised a canine rabies vaccine wouldn’t work on a wolf, since they’re so close genetically. Woah. Nobody said the vaccine would not work. I said > [@](#): > > Commercially available rabies vaccine is not sold for wolves or wolf-hybrids. See, in order to say on the label that the vaccine is intended for use in a species the product must be tested in that species. That costs money, and with relatively low demand, that cost would never be recovered. Without it saying on the label “for use in wolves” or “for use in wolf hybrids” the failure of the vaccine would create huge liability concerns. And vaccines do fail from time to time for a variety of reasons (for instance immune problems in the recipient). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/10 "2004-02-18T23:18:47Z")
Except that the vaccine _has_ been tested in that species. Dogs aren’t just closely related to wolves, dogs _are_ wolves. Rover is a specimen of _Canis lupis familiaris_, a subspecies of wolf. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/11 "2004-02-19T01:15:43Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > No I am not sure it was purebred or not, I am sure on the size. It looked like a great dane but with 5 times the bulk. His paws were the size of my hands outstretched. Very large animal. Okay, that to me says wolfhound definitely. My parents have two wolfhounds, and they look a lot like furry great danes. They’re very large and very friendly(luckily). Was this like it? [http://www.iwclubofamerica.org/2003\_nonreg.htm](http://www.iwclubofamerica.org/2003_nonreg.htm) (scroll down for pictures) -Lil ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/12 "2004-02-19T02:21:47Z")
One of my teachers in Middle School raised wolves. Not sure if they were “purebred” or “hybrid” wolves, but I’m sure they were real wolves, because she always talked about them as such. We’re in Northeast Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/13 "2004-02-19T09:16:46Z")
I have a friend in Virginia that has a wolf hybrid (he is N.F.- same initials?). He was working on getting the rabies vaccine approved. When he bought his first wolf/dog, I went with him to a dozen breeders in Pennsylvania. Of the 100 wolf and wolf hybrids I have met, I can say they seem to be just like any other dog I have known except that it seems that I have encountered more bad tempered house pet type dogs than wolves. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/14 "2004-02-19T11:43:26Z")
I think we have to clear up the terminology here. A wolf looks [like this](http://clem.mscd.edu/~shultzj/ccsc2002/wolf.jpg). If they resemble any domesticated dogs it is in my opinion [huskies](http://my.dreamwiz.com/mino32/images/husky.gif). [Great danes](http://www.dogdomain.com/images/096B_grand-danois.jpg) are completely different critters as are [wolf hounds](http://www.angelfire.com/mt/tessmar/images/besokmatilda.jpg), called so not because they resemble wolves but because they are bred to hunt them. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/15 "2004-02-19T15:58:14Z")
> [@Blown & Injected](#): > > I have encountered more bad tempered house pet type dogs than wolves. This is IMHO a pure statistical thing. There are way more cocker spaniels owned by individuals than there are wolf-hybrids. Cocker spaniels bite waaaay more people than wolf hybrids do. If you correct for number of individual animals then there is no contest. Or, if you look only at dog bite fatalities, then the wolf hybrid jumps out along with Rottweilers, Pittbulls, St Bernards, Dobermans, and a few others. [http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf](http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf) The last “big” attempt by wolf-hybrid owners to get their animals approved for inclusion for rabies vaccination failed in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/16 "2004-02-19T16:55:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Except that the vaccine _has_ been tested in that species. Dogs aren’t just closely related to wolves, dogs _are_ wolves. Rover is a specimen of _Canis lupis familiaris_, a subspecies of wolf. Touche`. I stand corrected. Please replace “species” with “subspecies” when reading my previous post. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/17 "2004-02-19T17:20:57Z")
The section of the web page **DeVena** linked to that is relevant for **Phlosphr** is: > [@](#): > > Possession of potentially dangerous animals. For the purposes of this section, the following shall be considered as potentially dangerous animals: … the wolf … No person shall possess a potentially dangerous animal. Any such animal illegally possessed may be ordered seized and may be disposed of as determined by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection Stick with Griss 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/18 "2004-02-19T17:51:08Z")
It was not an Irish Wolfhound…I know what those are. And Folks I do not want to buy one. The wolf I saw looked like[this](http://www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/whate/nicphantm.jpg) . But was [this](http://www.anypet.com/breeds/wolf.jpg) color. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/19 "2004-02-21T06:26:04Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > This is IMHO a pure statistical thing. There are way more cocker spaniels owned by individuals than there are wolf-hybrids. Cocker spaniels bite waaaay more people than wolf hybrids do. If you correct for number of individual animals then there is no contest. Or, if you look only at dog bite fatalities, then the wolf hybrid jumps out along with Rottweilers, Pittbulls, St Bernards, Dobermans, and a few others. I understand, but I still hold that in the few months that I crossed paths with 100 Wolf hybrids, I may have come across about 15 “regular” dogs and at least two of those dogs were scary - can’t say the same for those 100 wolfs. Of course a bit from one of them small ankle biters may go unreported where a bite from a big dog may require attention and goes reported - and of course this still proves nothing but my personal experience is that I am not afraid of wolves. It has also been my experience that a dog gives plenty of indication that they are pissed and will bite long before the bite could or does occur. ---
**Author:** ![Dalchini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dalchini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dalchini)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699/20 "2004-02-21T12:29:48Z")
They look like wolves but they are pretty bighttp://www.kingshepherd.com/ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-owning-a-wolf/229699.md?page=2)