Animal Watch Update on the Preston Wolfdogs Found Wandering the Streets
Animal Watch is thrilled to share some uplifting news from 8 Below Husky Rescue, who have been working tirelessly to stabilise and rehabilitate three very special pups — Little Timmy, Brooke and Boo.
At today’s vet check, all three “wolfie” pups showed brilliant progress. Each has gained around 2kg, Little Timmy’s cough has finally cleared, and all three received their second vaccinations. Their body condition is improving, their tummies are settling, and although they still have a long road ahead in terms of weight, they are most definitely moving in the right direction.
Next week marks a huge milestone: the pups will be heading to their specialist wolfdog placement, a team dedicated to giving them the long-term care, socialisation and environment they truly need. The handover will no doubt be emotional — everyone at 8 Below has grown incredibly fond of these little wolfdogs — but this move has always been part of the plan. It ensures they receive the expert support essential for their future.
Their Embark DNA tests have been completed, and we’re now waiting for the results. As soon as 8 Below receives them, they’ll be shared with everyone.
A heartfelt thank you to all who have sent messages and well wishes. It’s important to note that these pups were never intended to stay at 8 Below for rehoming. Their mission was always: rescue, stabilise, provide immediate veterinary care, and then collaborate with trusted wolfdog specialists, who have also welcomed 8 Below to remain part of the pups’ journey with open invitations to visit.
Animal Watch stands firmly behind rescues like 8 Below, who step up in true emergencies and give dogs like Little Timmy, Brooke and Boo the second chance they deserve.
If you’d like to support their essential work, please consider donating to 8 Below Husky Rescue
Thank you for standing with them — and with these three beautiful pups — on their road to recovery.
I was rushing through the blog dashboard to check something and did a double take. Put on my spectacles. The Red Paper 2025:Britain'sNew Native Species looking at exotics has been viewed by over 2000 people.
So there is intertest out there. I went to my online store and found that sales of the book had reached a total of....one copy.
The interest is there so long as people do not have to buy a book and read it even if it answers many questions they will not find on all the copy and paste or just tell lies sites. What is the only saying "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink"?
After US tax and the exchange rate I will earn about £2/$2 from that book. Well worth 50 years work.
For decades there have been reports of “Big Cats” roaming the British countryside killing sheep and deer. Are all of the observers from naturalists,zoologists, zoo personnel, police and others all mistaken?
Terry Hooper-Scharf set up the Exotic Animals Register (EAR) in 1977 to disprove the claims before become a UK police forces exotic wildlife consultant and member of the Partnership Against Wildlife crime (PAWS). What he found out was almost unbelievable but with the gathered evidence including DNA results and bone analysis it seemed that there were exotic cats in the UK and that some had been here at least going back to the early 19th century.
The presented evidence saw the Department of Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) force him off the PAWS scheme despite police protests.
Now read fact and not sensationalist press or fringe claims.
I was reminded today of a time that I was being interviewed by the BBC (before I blacklisted them in 1997) for a Radio 4 programme. We had briefly covered my work with exotics in the UK and there was an element of frustration from the BBC reporter that I would not discuss the work I did with UK police forces. I had explained that I was on the Partners Against Wildlife Crime list of experts and that I was also covered by the then Public Records Act (is that still a thing?). I advised forces and forces had observers contact me and so there was back and forth and like the police I treated people I spoke to in the greatest confidentiality -in fact in some cases it was the only way to get them to tell me what they saw and not fear ridicule or their name all over newspapers. I would not betray that confidence or today.
The BBC reporter was looking through notes and then seemed to have an idea: "How about telling us what animals have influenced you and your work?" There was a smile as the poor reporter expected something good.
I spoke for 30 minutes on jackals and hyenas. All the time the reporter was making notes and seemed as though on the verge of a breakthrough. "We have those in the UK -you've had reports come in?" Although I had explained everything the reporter's ears were selective in what they heard.
I had once had to travel across Bristol, after a snow storm disrupted roads, to get to BBC Whiteladies Road studio to be interviewed by a radio 5 reporter. A two hour journey there and another two hours home after an hour long interview. Altogether 55 minutes had been recorded. I waited for the segment on the radio days later. One minute. Five hours of my life wasted and never compensated as promised for a just about 1 minute sound bite. That could have been done over the phone.
Franklyn A Davin-Wilson c 1977 (c)2025 T. Hooper
When it comes to the question of "Why jackals?" the answer is simple.Around 1977 I was at a meeting of the British Flying Saucer Bureau in Bristol. I was invited by an astronomer who only informed me just before that he would not attend "You do your stuff" he told me...I still have no idea what my "stuff" was. Anyway, I was approached by a short man with rather odd clothing and a flattened "Russian Diplomat" style hat: Franklyn Angus Davin-Wilson He smiled at me and said "Your new here, aren't you?" As he held out his hand his smiled showed two long vampire fangs. He was rather disappointed at my reaction -people were usually either taken aback jumped back. I learnt that the teeth were actually from a dead fox and a dentist friend had made a false set of teeth for him to wear. He smiled again and told me that he liked the lack of panic "I think we are going to be friends" he told me.
During our following conversation he learnt of my interest in wildlife. As it happened he was also a very keen naturalist and I later inherited his collection of 19th century books on lepidoptera, arachnids and beetles. He asked what I thought about the "Vampire sheep slayer of Badminton" to which my response was that I had never heard of vampire sheep before; "Yes, they never thought that title through" was his response. The killing of sheep and draining of blood from their bodies had been reported on by Charles Hoy Fort (after who the "Forteans" name themselves). Fort had an habit of misreporting or even giving sources that contained none of what he included in his books. I have dealt with these incidents in both the 2010 and updated 2022 Red Paper Canids.
It took a few years of trawling through old newspapers at the Bristol Central Library before I had amassed a good amount of information on the case. It could be said that this was my first Jackal in the UK case.
Golden Jackal (c)2025 respective copyright owner
The Sevenoaks jackal was another (sadly, all of the cryptozoologists and Forteans who use my material never credit me). I had no idea at the time that for almost 50 years I would be studying jackals or that it would lead me to discovering why jackals were in the UK and the standard explanation was always that they had escaped travel;ling menageries (I leave out the brainless theory that they were somehow supernaturally transported here and then vanished).
Oddly, this led into my research on coyotes in the UK and wolves -again fully explained in my books even though at first I doubted what I had found as it was all in plain sight and easily findable but people had forgotten or preferred fantasy or dogma over fact. Incidentally, a lot of these 'mystery canid' reports come from the same areas where we get (historically to today) puma, lynx and panther reports: big hunting estates.
What about the hyena then? Again, late 1970s I was told about this mystery creature known as "The Beast of Gevaudan" that slaughtered live stock and people between 1764-1767 in France. Forteans and cryptozoologist had it marked down as a paranormal creature, a werewolf (I'm not joking), a Dire wolf -an extinct species of canine which was native to the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs (125,000–10,000 years ago). Other Forteans seem to almost relish the theory that the 'beast' was a child sex killer (again, I am not joking) despite not all the victims being young or human.
There were certain t6hings in the accounts that as I read them struck a memory and the animal I had in mind was neither a "freak gigantic wolf" nor an extinct species. I was thinking of hyena. Today "copy and paste" is almost -it is- standard for people writing on these topics since they have no idea everything they need is in what someone wrote before them...and that writer probably also copied from someone else. No one seems to have looked at how the animal attacked and killed or the geography of the area.
Back in those days before the internet you wrote letters and it might take a week or two but you got responses. It takes a minute for an email to out out and no one responds now. But, as outlined in Mysterious and Strange Beasts, I received a reply and a paper published by a museum and it clearly identified the beast as a hyena. The fur was in storage up until (possibly) 1950s when it went "missing". The British press of the day even mocked the French over being messed about by a hyena.
A one off hyena killer. Well, uh, not really because there were other "beasts" in France at the time and some of those appear to have been hyena. Remnant population spreading out across a part of France or escapees breeding and living wild -that we cannot answer, However, after many decades I am still trying to find one last piece of evidence that may indicate that there was a population that eventually died off through inbreeding (I am currently trying to find a copy of that source).
hyena (c)2025 respective copyright owner
People think I am odd because I like hyena (or "hyenas" if you prefer). But I am still studying and researching hyena as I am jackals I have hefty files and one day I hope these may help promote further historical research as everything is referenced -sometimes with more than four reference sources.
That hyena and jackals crop up in my work on Old British foxes and even wild dogs should not be surprising. For many involved in Fortean or cryptozoology "it was a clearly identified dog" is not sensationalist or sexy enough to sell magazines or books. It always has to be "A previously unknown big cat"/ "Hyena"/ "Dire wolf"/ or "paraform (paranormal) creature".
A person presenting himself as Willam Alexander O'Toole living at 27 Bettman Close, Coventry, CV3 5JP phone 07465807341 has taken our dangerous animal license and invasive species license and is pretending to be us and with this front he is selling wild animals. We have been alerted to his scam on WhatsApp and on Pets For sale. his picture is below. BEWARE OF THIS CRIMINAL.
We would never sell a wild animal as a pet. Please share his details far and wide to help prevent people being scammed. people like him need to be stopped fast and hard. Any information on this person please alert us.
I have to laugh when 'big cat experts' say they are staking out a very specific area where a puma has been seen. A puma can travel 12+ miles in a day. You think it is going to wait for you?
A leopard 7-11 miles a day or if disturbed (ie a bunch of people dressed up all in cammo or black combat gear 😕) up to 47 miles is not unknown.
What you need to do is stop pretending you are going into urban combat and concentrate efforts to go foot by foot across the area where the cat was seen and look for pawprints, hair on trees, wire, bushes but if the wire is to keep a herd of cows or sheep in then it is very likely (100% so far) that the hair is probably from them.
The thing is if you gather evidence what are you going to do with it? Use it for publicity and all the problems that causes? Certainly DNA, Scat and other evidence since the 1990s has proven formerly non native cats are in the UK so what is your end game?
As an update to the report on the three "wolves" caught in Preston: police have now said that the animals have gone to "a sanctuary" and that they were not returned to the owner -who is unknown.
As an update to the report on the three "wolves" caught in Preston: police have now said that the animals have gone to "a sanctuary" and that they were not returned to the owner -who is unknown.
This is a good example case of why monitoring exotics and escapes can be very convoluted in 2025. My thanks to WildSide Exotic Rescue.
From 1977-early 2000s local authorities and police forces were more willing to cooperate and respond. Today privacy (even when not needed) and the fear of any comment being used against them means cooperation is often restricted but let me make it clear from the outseyt that Lancashire Police have been open to communicating but there have been problems as I will note further on.
First we had coyote packs roaming the UK and now we have wolf packs. Not sure how knowledgeable the police dog handlers are when it comes to wild canids or their knowledge on counting...one...two... oh. One appears to have escaped again..
I am glad the police have such expertise in wolves. Here is the item from Yahoo News 30 10 2025:
Police have issued an update after reports of ‘wolf-type animals’ were spotted roaming the streets of Barton.
On Thursday (October 30), at around 4.15pm, police received reports of what were thought to be wolf-type animals roaming in the Station Lane area.
Three animals were seized and taken to specially trained dog handlers so they could assess what type of animal they are.
Preston Police can now confirm that the animals are not thought to be wolves. Police have handed care of them over to the council.
A police spokesperson said: “Yesterday (October 30), we let you know about some wolf-type dogs found in Barton.
“Despite the speculation, we can confirm this was a real post, and not a trick (or treat).
“The dogs have been seized and we can confirm they are not thought to be wolves. The members of the public who reported this did so in good faith, and we want to thank them for getting in touch.
“We know there’s been a lot of ‘howling’ about this online, so we thought we best to update you.”
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Checked the Preston Police page and left this message: "Terry Hooper
I've studied wild canids since 1976 and run the Exotic Animals Register and were I to come across these in the wild I would have thought wolf or wolf hybrid. A blood test would get a clear identification of species. And, yes, there is still a lot of exotic breeding and selling going on."
01 11 2025
"Hello.
"Regarding the three canids caught by police in Preston, Lancashire on 31st October, 2025.
"Identification has been by police dog handlers and with all due respect they are not expert at identifying wild canids. I have studied foxes, jackals, wolves and coyotes since 1976 and as soon as I saw the photographs I could see that there was a lot of wolf traits."
That written, I always -always- get as many opinions from people who specialise in an animal as possible as that doesn't just back up my identification but people dealing with wolves each day carry more weight with identifications.
A DNA test takes time -0I know this only too well from working with Sir Alec Jeffries at Leicestyer University in the late 1990s/early 2000s on sample testing to ID exotics/ To confirm a canid is a wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid can generally take some 2-4 weeks to process once the sample is received by the lab. Some specialized tests, such as those offered by the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory for wolf-dog hybrids, can have a turnaround time of at least 15 business days
Once "in the UK" is mentioned people start throwing up objections or offer the "You don't have wolves in the UK". However two have informally told me that there are "wild canid characteristics that would require DNA testing for a positive confirmation". Here are what experts who don't mind being named state (all are weary due to wolf-dog hybrids):
JAB Canid Education and Conservation
"They appear to at least have wild canid content. As far as I know wolf wolves do not exist in the U.K. A dna test could positively identify them"
The Voyageurs Wolf Project studies wolves in and around Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota.
"Hi Terry, Thanks for reaching out. They certainly have wolf-like characteristics but we are always wary of making any definitive statements about whether animals like this are truly wolves because wolf-dog hybridization is widespread and just because a canid looks like a wolf does not mean it is entirely a wolf. I.e., a high content wolf-dog hybrid can look very much like a wild wolf and not be a pure wolf. Hope that all makes sense. Best, Tom"
Wolf Watch UK
"Hi Terry, thanks for your email.
"Apparently, the police have established that these are not Wolves, and they are now in the care of the local council. I am guessing they might have DNA tested them.
"Unfortunately with the publics wish to own dogs that look like Wolves this is likely to be an ongoing problem which really does cause a lot of confusion and certainly cannot make your life easy.
"Best Wishes
Caroline
Wolf Watch UK "
Even being very conservative re identification the canids in the photos do possess wolf features. The best that could happen is that they are signed over to a trustworthy rescue and any DNA testing carried out thereafter.
Terry Hooper
British Fox and Wild Canids Study (1976)
Exotic Animals Register (1977)
The responses are quite sensible and point to the fact that you need to know the history of the animals in question. Escapes are also not unknown. If you have read The Red Paper Canids I discuss the lone wolf-dog that went missing in Scotland. There were reported sightings and then two clearly seen and identified wolf dogs -so where did the second come from? To add to that in another part of Scotland two other wolf dogs were sighted. There can be no connection which means that there are two pairs of wolf dogs surviving well since in five years since the main lost animal sightings indicate healthy animals.
Someone seeing a wolf dog could well be more hostile toward it thinking that it is a wolf.
On exotic animal groups there was a frenzy -people were constantly contacting the police ("repeatedly") which might explain police reticence -crime is the priority not "three lost dogs". The local authorities were also flooded with messages and on Face Book pages it was chaos. The "wolves have been offered a place at a wildlife sanctuary"/"They are going to euthanise the wolves over the weekend!" and even "A wolf dog rescue has told authorities they will take the animals" and so on and so forth.
Both myself and WildSide Exotic Rescue contacted the Preston Mayor as well as police and I contacted the Chief Constable. Today we both received the news that the animals situation was sorted.
From the Chief Constable of Lancashire Police Tuesday 4th November 2025
"Hi Terry
"Thank you for your email.
"I can confirm the dogs have been returned to their owner.
Thanks"
My hope is that a check was made and that this is a one off incident. A one off incident blown out of all proportion by social media wanting to sensationalise "wolves on the loose in the UK" (it was an area of Preston not the country!) and sharing and using video clips for their own sensationalist claims and, of course, social media "Likes". Naturally, the press/media was going to pick up on this as they were no doubt salivating at the prospect of a story involving "wild wolves" roaming "the UK"(Preston).
For now the "Three Little Wolves" are safe at home and I hope this was a one off adventure for them. They looked lost in the video clips but there was absolutely no threat from and those who claim otherwise need to learn more about animals.
WildSide Exotic Rescue have been excellent from the get-go.
