Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Dances with wolves
Family and friends said Piovesan adored her exotic pets and always went into the pen to feed them.
She sometimes kept nearly a dozen wolf hybrids and occasionally invited visitors inside the pen to see them. She built a playground with tunnels and climbing stations for the animals.
"She loved those wolves just like pets. She told me she was part American Indian, and she told me it was part of her ethnic background," said Brian Gallagher, a longtime friend who has a theory about what happened.
Piovesan's daughter, Crystal, found her mother's body when she went to the home yesterday morning after Piovesan failed to meet her for breakfast.
State police Trooper Brian Gross said Piovesan's body was mauled "pretty bad" by the hybrids.
"They were all one pack ... including Sandra, who was considered the leader of the pack. I think one of them may have wanted to take over as leader of the pack," Gallagher said.
Wolf hybrids do not make good pets, experts say.
What would Darwin do without experts?
4 Comments:
By 
K. Pablo, at
Tue Jul 18, 03:43:00 PM:
An evolutionary biologist would probably observe that, because Piovesan at age 50 was likely outside biological childbearing years for humans, that no selection pressure had been applied to her. Her offspring, if any, are out there propagating her genes as we speak.
By Charlottesvillain, at
Tue Jul 18, 04:58:00 PM:
Good point. More meat for the wolves I guess.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Tue Jul 18, 08:24:00 PM:
And once you've fed a pack from inside the pen, it's very hard to break them of the habit.
By Fausta, at
Wed Jul 19, 10:09:00 AM:
I know someone in Princeton who keeps a wolf/German shepperd hybrid.
Needless to say, I stay away!
