As reported by lwowecki.info:
Wolves can also be encountered in Lwówek County. In recent days, they appeared in Lubomierz Municipality, where they were seen near households. According to residents, a lone animal appeared a short distance from the Chmieleń sołectwo, on the road leading to Lubomierz.
We have previously reported, among other things, that wolves appear near human settlements in a piece from three years ago entitled Wolves keep coming to villages?! The forest district explains WHY. At the time, Nadleśnictwo Bolesławiec reported:
The phone rings at the forest district office... A pleasant female voice, with noticeable concern, reports that wolves have been seen in the village several times already... in the village itself!!
We begin an investigation, whose brief diagnosis is: WOLVES COME TO THE VILLAGE BECAUSE FOOD WASTE IS THROWN OUT, and at one of the farms, full bowls for dogs and cats are available around the clock…
Foresters explain:
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Any animal that finds a source of easily available food will return to it. A fox, raccoon dog, raccoon, wolf—it really makes no difference. We often hear about wild boars rummaging around freely in the middle of the city, by rubbish bins. Why? That is probably a rhetorical question…
And they explain the consequence:
Then there is panic, fear, and reluctance to walk in the park. In the case of a wolf, it is even worse, because heaven forbid it should appear in the village... It is completely irrelevant that the village is surrounded by forest on all sides. It is irrelevant that many people throw food over the fence; it is irrelevant that a wolf can smell food from a great distance....
WHAT MATTERS IS THAT A WOLF HAS APPEARED IN THE VILLAGE...
NO ONE wonders what caused these animals to be in an environment foreign to them? Or rather, who?
They also add:
If you want peace and no visits from “uninvited guests,” simply do not get these animals accustomed to #EasyFood.
Wolves dangerous to domestic animals
As for cases of dogs being mauled, such incidents have already occurred in our county. In May 2018, we published a collection of information about why wolves attack dogs and whom such incidents should be reported to. Dr. Sabina Nowak wrote at the time on the website of Stowarzyszenia dla Natury „Wilk”:
Dogs are domesticated wolves. These two species can interbreed, which proves that despite the lengthy process of domestication, dogs and wolves differ little genetically. Wolves probably believe that dogs are still wolves. They have no idea that a dog has an owner who feeds and maintains it, and often also feels great affection for it. They treat dogs as competitors for territory and food. If dogs are allowed to run free, they regularly visit nearby forests and leave their feces and urine there, especially on wolf droppings and markings. They also eat scraps from wolves’ kills. We often see this in recordings from our camera traps. For a local wolf family group, this clearly constitutes marking its territory and an attempt by an outsider to take it over, as well as a threat to its offspring. It is somewhat like a stranger entering our home, scattering their belongings there, eating from the refrigerator, and making themselves at home in our absence, then disappearing.
A wolf breeding pair protecting its offspring and food resources, following a scent trail, can very easily reach the property where such a dog lives. It can also easily recognize it during an encounter in the field. That is why cases of local wolves killing dogs in the forest, in fields, and even on residential properties and beside kennels are not uncommon.
A wolf killing a dog is not an act of blind aggression, but rather the protection of its own resources. For this reason, wolves do not pose a threat to people, because to a wolf, a human is not a competitor in the environment.
Cases of dogs being aggressive toward other dogs, as well as dogs attacking livestock, are frequently observed. Unfortunately, in such situations, wolves are most often blamed for a dog’s death or the killing of livestock. It is not true that only stray or roaming dogs pose a threat, because animals with owners may also be responsible for such incidents. There can be such intense antagonism between dogs living next door to one another that they kill each other. Genetic tests of saliva collected from the wounds of mauled or dead dogs also indicate this.
Furthermore, in the natural environment—and now even near buildings—dogs can be killed by wild boars, including sows defending their offspring. When they or their offspring are threatened, they can severely bite or even kill a dog.
I do not believe that wolves killing dogs pose a threat to people, therefore there is probably no need to raise the alarm and cause panic in areas where such incidents occur. However, all dog owners should know that Polish law prohibits allowing dogs to run loose in the forest. Dogs—even beloved couch pets—can be very efficient killers of forest animals, roe deer, and even red deer calves. Scientific research proves this. It should also be remembered that by letting a dog run loose in the forest, we expose it to danger from the wild animals living there.
What should we do if a wolf kills our dog?
As reported in 2018 by Gmina Bolesławiec:
[…] The State Treasury is liable for damage caused by animals protected by species protection regulations, including wolves.
- The Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Wrocław must be notified immediately of any damage caused; the Director inspects and assesses the damage and determines the amount and payment of compensation.
- The injured party must demonstrate that the damage was caused by wolves. In addition, several rules must be remembered, including:
- the mauled animal should not be removed before the people conducting the inspection arrive
- all traces of the incident should be secured
- where possible, photographic documentation should be made of the mauled animal and other traces within the incident area (tracks, marks where victims were dragged, feces), as well as of the incident site itself and the security measures used, e.g. fencing.
The damage should also be reported to a veterinarian, who may determine the cause of death of the affected animal, prepare a description of the condition of the remains, and identify other valuable information facilitating the proper consideration of the compensation claim, as well as to representatives of hunting associations and the forest district, who may search the incident site for predator tracks or other characteristic signs of their presence and inspect the remains.- Compensation is not payable if the damage caused by wolves occurred between sunset and sunrise while the animals were left without direct supervision. In disputed matters concerning the amount of compensation for damage caused, among other things, by wolves, ordinary courts have jurisdiction
- The injured party should submit a compensation claim with the necessary attachments listed in the application. Compensation covers the market price of the killed animal, the costs of disposing of the carcass and transporting it to the nearest carcass-disposal company, the cost of a veterinarian’s visit to certify the animal’s death, and treatment costs, based on the submitted invoices.