Pet owners warned after report of wolves chasing dog on southern Vancouver Island

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 6:52 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service and a wildlife acquisition radical connected confederate Vancouver Island are advising radical to usage other precaution with their pets aft a study of wolves chasing an unleashed canine successful the Metchosin/East Sooke country aboriginal Monday morning.

Wild Wise Society told CBC the study made notation of "two oregon 3 wolves."

"There's truly not a batch of clarity connected however galore animals were progressive successful the incidental and however acold [the dog] was followed," said Mollie Cameron, Wild Wise's president.

"I tin supply that the nonmigratory returned to their location with their canine and cipher was injured."

The Conservation Officer Services (COS) told CBC it investigated the incident. In a statement, it said that wolves are communal connected Vancouver Island and tin beryllium encountered successful wilderness and agrarian settings astatine immoderate time.

"Wolves are territorial animals and during the incidental [Monday] they exhibited earthy territorial behaviour," said the COS. 

Cameron said portion wolves thin to beryllium elusive and debar humans, it's not wholly antithetic for a wolf to attack an unleashed dog.

"Wolves specifically effort to elicit a formation effect from their prey due to the fact that it gives them an vantage of the chase. Not galore things tin outrun a wolf, particularly not a quality oregon oftentimes not dogs," she said.

"If you bash brushwood a wolf with your dog, the champion happening to bash is conscionable enactment still, stay calm, and marque tons of noise. More often than not, a wolf is going to suffer involvement successful not being capable to elicit that formation response, and they'll apt retreat."

Recommendations to minimize the hazard of struggle with wolves include: 

• Be alert of your surroundings erstwhile outdoors and guarantee dogs are connected a leash astatine each times.

• Bring free-roaming cats indoors.

• Adequately unafraid livestock to debar attracting oregon provoking wolves.

Cameron said radical request to guarantee they are not doing things that could pull wildlife and spark conflicts.

"Predators and each chaotic animals don't recognize the quality expectations that we've inadvertently placed connected them to cognize that the animals successful our attraction are domesticated and not prey. They conscionable spot an accidental for food," she said.

COS is asking the nationalist to study immoderate wolf interactions to its RAPP enactment astatine 1-877-952-7277.

The ngo of the Wild Wise Society is wildlife education, promoting peaceful co-existence with wildlife and mitigating human- wildlife conflicts, according to Cameron.