Written by J Kelham and S Sutton
In the 1990's, there was an increase in the amount of advertisements offering ‘wolf hybrid’ pups for sale. As the recent ‘Pit Bull’ horror stories from an over zealous tabloid press emerged, the RSPCA and other authorities grabbed the chance to try and have many people prosecuted and their dogs confiscated under the Dangerous wild animal act. Because of all the controversy surrounding any wolfy looking dogs, a group of people got together to try and safeguard the future of a particular line of these dogs.
The dogs were given the name ‘the Northern Inuit dog’ (which I shall hereafter refer to as the N.I.), due to the Northern breeds and Inuit type dogs that were used to create the breed. Two of these original Inuit types were imported to the UK from the USA as ‘wolf hybrid’ dogs, and there ensuing progeny were sold up and down the country as ‘wolf hybrids’, it is very dubious as to whether there was any actual wolf content in these dogs at all.
At the time of the N.I being established, one of the founder s of the breed, Julie Kelham, had the local authorities hammering at her door, trying to seize her dogs as dangerous wild animals. Although they went away empty handed, it resulted in a court case being brought against her, at the local magistrates court on the 20th of june 1998. At this time, the N.I was well established as a breed of dog and not as a wolf hybrid. The end result of the court case was a not guilty verdict due to the fact that it could not be proven that there was any wolf content in the breed.
The N.I has flourished since then and is rapidly gaining in popularity, therefore, the Northern Inuit society was formed to govern the breeding and well being of this wonderful dog, although, some members, in the past, were obviously not satisfied with the N.I as it was, and went on to cross their dogs with other breeds, which has resulted in several splits,and breeds such as the Utonagan, British Inuit, Tamaskan and ‘Inuit’ groups being formed. The N.I society believes that crossing the N.I with any other breed would only be detrimental to them and we are quite satisfied with the N.I as it is.
So, the question still remains ‘is there any wolf content in the N.I.? This is a question many people ask, and the truthful answer is, it really is impossible to say. If there is, it is so far back that it would have been diluted to almost 0%. Although some people would prefer that we steer well away from the wolf question, we are proud that our breed resemble the wolf in looks and of the unanswered question ‘is there or isn't there?’
For further reference on the on the subject, please see DEFRA and BVA report on this link http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/gwd/wolfdogs/wolfdogs.pdf
In the 1990's, there was an increase in the amount of advertisements offering ‘wolf hybrid’ pups for sale. As the recent ‘Pit Bull’ horror stories from an over zealous tabloid press emerged, the RSPCA and other authorities grabbed the chance to try and have many people prosecuted and their dogs confiscated under the Dangerous wild animal act. Because of all the controversy surrounding any wolfy looking dogs, a group of people got together to try and safeguard the future of a particular line of these dogs.
The dogs were given the name ‘the Northern Inuit dog’ (which I shall hereafter refer to as the N.I.), due to the Northern breeds and Inuit type dogs that were used to create the breed. Two of these original Inuit types were imported to the UK from the USA as ‘wolf hybrid’ dogs, and there ensuing progeny were sold up and down the country as ‘wolf hybrids’, it is very dubious as to whether there was any actual wolf content in these dogs at all.
At the time of the N.I being established, one of the founder s of the breed, Julie Kelham, had the local authorities hammering at her door, trying to seize her dogs as dangerous wild animals. Although they went away empty handed, it resulted in a court case being brought against her, at the local magistrates court on the 20th of june 1998. At this time, the N.I was well established as a breed of dog and not as a wolf hybrid. The end result of the court case was a not guilty verdict due to the fact that it could not be proven that there was any wolf content in the breed.
The N.I has flourished since then and is rapidly gaining in popularity, therefore, the Northern Inuit society was formed to govern the breeding and well being of this wonderful dog, although, some members, in the past, were obviously not satisfied with the N.I as it was, and went on to cross their dogs with other breeds, which has resulted in several splits,and breeds such as the Utonagan, British Inuit, Tamaskan and ‘Inuit’ groups being formed. The N.I society believes that crossing the N.I with any other breed would only be detrimental to them and we are quite satisfied with the N.I as it is.
So, the question still remains ‘is there any wolf content in the N.I.? This is a question many people ask, and the truthful answer is, it really is impossible to say. If there is, it is so far back that it would have been diluted to almost 0%. Although some people would prefer that we steer well away from the wolf question, we are proud that our breed resemble the wolf in looks and of the unanswered question ‘is there or isn't there?’
For further reference on the on the subject, please see DEFRA and BVA report on this link http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/gwd/wolfdogs/wolfdogs.pdf
