Wolves may join bears at shelter

Shaunta Grimes

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 11:01 a.m.

The Betty Honn Animal Adoption Center is ready to adopt wolves that once belonged to Bill Vergis, previous owner of two bears now at the center, but officials say the wolves are already in good hands.

Five timber wolves are living on the same property where Manfred, a 1,000-pound Kodiak bear, and Tuffy, a 900-pound grizzly, shared a horse trailer until Oct. 20. Vergis turned the bears over to the Betty Honn center but gave the wolves to their caretaker, a woman named Tiffany, who was also caring for the bears.

"She is taking good care of the wolves. They are in large pens. As far as anyone can tell they are happy," Joseph Boteilho, county animal control manager, said.

Boteilho said Tiffany is in no danger of losing the animals. The woman is trying to find permanent, natural-habitat homes for the animals, he added.

Betty Honn center has space for the animals if necessary, according to Jordan Desario, a Honn spokesman. Desario said he is not sure how well the animals are being cared for but said if asked the center would help. Other wolves at the center are kept in pens, not in natural habitats.

Boteilho said Tiffany was also looking for a home for Manfred and Tuffy before they went to the center, but since the bears did not belong to her, she could do little more than try to take care of them.

Boteilho said she provided marginal care for the bears but is taking good care of the wolves.

The property the wolves live on -- 9770 Homestead Road, owned by Stephanie Taunton who lives outside the state -- is properly zoned for exotic animals, Boteilho said. Taunton received a two-year extension on the permit in April.