Pennsylvania: Woman's body found in pen of nine wolf hybrids

PENNSYLVANIA -- The body of a Westmoreland County woman was found mauled inside a pen where she kept a pack of nine hybrid wolves, but authorities were awaiting results of an autopsy to determine whether she was killed by the animals or died of an illness.

The body of Sandra Piovesan, 50, of Salem (a town about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh), was found inside the 40-foot by 150-foot enclosure she kept in her backyard, where she raised the nine part-wolf and part-dog canines.

Mrs. Piovesan's body was intact but had been partially eaten.

Mrs. Piovesan's daughter suspected something was wrong when her mother failed to show up for a 10 a.m. meeting with her Monday, state police said. Her daughter then contacted her father, who went to the home and found Mrs. Piovesan's body in the enclosure.

Mrs. Piovesan lived alone and was last seen Sunday night, police said. The Westmoreland County corner's office would not say if she had a separate medical condition that could have caused her to pass out in the enclosure.

The state police and the Westmoreland County Humane Society went to the home yesterday and euthanized all of the animals. Humane officers shot the animals with darts that injected a serum into the dogs that killed them.

Mrs. Piovesan also had two Rottweilers, which were not euthanized and were taken to the humane society.

Most of the hybrid-canines weighed about 70 to 100 pounds and some were 7 to 8 years old. None of the animals was neutered or spayed and the animals had produced several litters of pups, humane officers said.

There was some debate last night between agencies over what Mrs. Piovesan had done with the puppies. Humane officers said they would have to also destroy the animals' offspring since the parents had eaten and possibly attacked a human. They said they knew the animals had several litters, but they did not know who had bought or received the puppies from Mrs. Piovesan.

Humane officers also did not know how many dogs Mrs. Piovesan had in the yard. After they put down seven of the animals earlier in the day they found two wolves roaming the enclosure.

Police called for a front-end loader last night to remove a metal shed, believing a wolf den may be underneath it. They did not find anything under the shed, police said.

Elaine Gower, a humane officer with Action for Animals and the Westmoreland County Humane Society, said she had been to the home several times over the last four years after several neighbors complained about the animals, mostly about noise.

Last summer, Mrs. Gower was called to the home after the pack killed a female wolf. She said the animals tend to get agitated in the summer, which is mating season.

Mrs. Gower said she was called to the home once after receiving reports that a friend of Mrs. Piovesan had been bitten by one of the animals. She said the bite report was never confirmed.

Mrs. Gower said all of the animals were healthy. She said Mrs. Piovesan would feed them road-kill, beef and any scraps of meat she could find.

"My biggest fear was that they were going to get out," said Mrs. Gower. "Wolves run away from people out of fear. Breeding them with dogs takes the fear out of them, which can make them more dangerous."

Mrs. Gower said Mrs. Piovesan had all of the animals licensed as dogs to avoid a showdown with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. According to the commission's Web site, there are 35 licensed facilities that are permitted to either possess, breed and sell wolves and wolf-hybrids in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Piovesan's was not among the 35 facilities.

People who have wolves or wolf-hybrids must comply with their local municipality's caging, public safety and record-keeping requirements, the Web site said.

Mrs. Gower said the animals may have grown aggressive because they were limited to a small plot of land. She said a pack of that size would need 50 to 100 square miles to roam.

Ed Gieselman, the owner of Elegant Interiors, a store across the road from the home, said he never had problems with the dogs and would often see Mrs. Piovesan outside with the animals. He said she also kept one inside the home with her.

"She liked the fact that they gave her unqualified love and didn't ask for anything in return," Mr. Gieselman said. "The animals never did anything to anybody."

Mrs. Gower said Mrs. Piovesan fancied Native American themes, which translated into her love for wolves. She said most of the complaints she received were about the animals howling at night.

(Post Gazette - July 18, 2006)