A 3-year-old Washington boy is lucky to be alive after a part of his arm was bitten off by a wolf back in April. The child was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries but survived. The wolf, named Cheyenne, was relocated to an out-of-state wildlife sanctuary, along with her Alaskan Malamute mate and pups.
Cheyenne's former owner, Rick Miracle, believes the toddler was trying to feed the wolf a piece of pizza when he was attacked. Miracle had been renting out a room to the boy's mother who was home during the time of the incident. She thought another tenant was watching her child.
Court documents report that Miracle told officials that he had warned both the mother and her child to stay away from the cage.
According to the Sheriff's office, the boy wandered off alone while his mother was in the room and stuck his hand into a kennel containing two wolf-dogs and was attacked by at least one.
Deputy Evan Cofer said in a report:
“Entering the property, I could see that there was a large wooden cage with metal wiring just outside of the main entrance of the property, inside the fenced area. Inside the cage were two wolf/malamute breed dogs. At the entrance to the cage was a large amount of blood where one of the two animals has bitten (the child’s) lower right arm off. There was a blood trail from the cage leading into the house.”
Animal Services Director Ric Torgerson believes the animals were lucky to find another home and not get euthanized.