Wolf-dog hybrid attacks toddler who gets 600 stitches

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 1:57 a.m.

The 160-pound animal, Miko, belongs to the toddler's grandfather, George Soetje, who wants the dog's life to be spared.

But Mike Conklin, Carson City animal control director, said Soetje already is the subject of 15 complaints and three official citations in the past 18 months dealing with several dogs.

The wolf-dog attacked the young girl, Taylor Soetje, last weekend. She remained in serious but stable condition here Friday at the Washoe Medical Center.

"It wasn't a bite. It was a massacre," said Ed Soetje, her father.

"The dog almost killed my daughter. My daughter is still in intensive care five days later," he said.

The dog remained quarantined at the Carson City Animal Control facility. Conklin vowed it would not be returned to the owner.

"This is not a normal behavior pattern for any dog," Conklin told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"It doesn't matter if it's a wolf-dog, a Doberman or a German shepherd. Anytime that a dog will attack a 3-year-old helpless child like this, it's a very dangerous situation," he said.

The girl's father said the attack was unprovoked. The grandfather said she was unfamiliar with the dog and may have approached it while it was eating a bone.

"I know it's a sad situation and hopefully it will never happen again. And it won't with this dog," said George Soetje, who hoped to find another home for the dog.

"But why are people making a bigger issue out of it because it's a hybrid? It's vogue right now to pick on the hybrid wolf. There's no more problems with this breed than with any other," he told the Gazette-Journal.

A similar attack took place May 5 in Fernley, when a wolf-hybrid knocked down and dragged a 6-year-old girl outside her home.

The Humane Society of the United States opposes the use of cross-bred dogs as pets.

"We are opposed to the breeding and keeping of wolf hybrids for any reason," said Dr. Laura Sinclair, a veterinarian and society official.

Neither Reno nor Carson City regulates wolf-dogs differently from other dogs.