Wolf Poisoning Investigation Continues

Still no leads in the search for a suspect poisoning animals at a Broken Arrow wildlife sanctuary. <br/><br/>There is now a $1,200 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person volunteers

Thursday, November 9th 2006, 10:17 am

By: News On 6

Still no leads in the search for a suspect poisoning animals at a Broken Arrow wildlife sanctuary.

There is now a $1,200 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person volunteers say has, so far, killed five of the park's wolves. It happened at Safari's Animal Sanctuary in Broken Arrow.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says more than six months ago, wolves at Safari's Animal Sanctuary in Broken Arrow started mysteriously dying.

Medical tests showed the animals were being poisoned. Authorities suspect it's someone sneaking behind the property and throwing meat tainted with something like rat poison in the pen. A total of five wolves have died and since our last story, another has fallen ill. Frank Gaddy: "There's a sick person out there, if you'll poison a wolf, that's a living animal, that's just like a person."

Now the park is being forced to take steps it can't afford. Safari volunteers say the added expense of a security system is having an impact on all the animals. Volunteers say necessary changes are sending costs soaring. The sanctuary can no longer accept donated meat, which was providing 70-percent of the food supply for the carnivores. "There's an extra $3,000 a month we're going to have to spend, during the winter, when times are slow out here. These animals come here because they're either unwanted, abused or neglected, there's nowhere else for them to go. The only other option for them is to be put down."

Frank Gaddy says it's not just a place to keep unwanted, exotic pets. It's also a valuable education tool. "We have school groups come out during the year, we do mobile petting zoos out to the school groups. We let people know about owning exotic animals, it's not for very many people."

A local security company is working with the sanctuary, allowing them to use the new system while they gather enough donations to cover the cost.

For more information on Safari's Animal Sanctuary, click on their website.