Disturbing details about family whose child was mauled by wolf-hybrid emerge

A 3-year-old nearly died after his family's "wolf-dog hybrid" bit off his hand.

The Washington family is known to both Thurston County law enforcement and Wolf Haven International for breeding those hybrids, according to KCPQ.

Several of the animals have been rescued by the Tenino sanctuary.

Officials say DNA tests revealed that the "dogs" being used for breeding were actually 100 percent wolves, which is illegal. For it to be legal, the hybrids can only contain up to 98 percent of wolf DNA.

"A lot of times what happens, people think they are going to get the best of both worlds but often they end up with the worst traits, they end up with a predator who is not afraid of humans and that is a really dangerous combination," Wendy Spencer, who runs the sanctuary at Wolf Haven International, told KCPQ.

Spencer said that calls for help about these wolf-dogs come in almost daily.

"It is a huge issue. I think a lot of people don't realize this is happening in our own backyard," she said.

The business is lucrative. Hybrids sell for thousands of dollars apiece.

The family of the wounded child maintains that they are following the law in breeding the dogs, but DNA testing has shown they have bred full wolves in the past.

"It was a time-bomb waiting to happen," said Spencer. "It was a really volatile situation."