Wolf People owner pleads guilty in animal escape

SANDPOINT - The owner of Wolf People has been fined $400 and placed on probation for two years for failing to report that one of her animals had escaped last year.

Nancy Jean Taylor pleaded guilty to failing to advise authorities that a captive wolf called Cryco had escaped from her facility. Taylor entered the plea to the misdemeanor offense during a pretrial hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court on July 27.

Judge Don L. Swanstrom sentenced Taylor during the hearing and granted a withheld judgment, which means she can petition to have her conviction nullified once she completes her court-ordered obligations.

Cryco, a 14-year-old arctic/timber wolf hybrid, escaped from his enclosure in Cocolalla last summer and was subsequently spotted roaming the Hoodoo Valley. Cryco remains unaccounted for, although Taylor believes the wolf is dead because it was raised in captivity and had kidney failure.

In a message to supporters posted to the Wolf People website, Taylor said she did not report the disappearance because she believed she could find Cryco and was afraid the Idaho Department of Fish & Game would issue a shoot-to-kill order.

Fish & Game denied issuing such an order.

"All we're saying is that it's not a wild wolf so it doesn't come under the auspices of wolf-hunting regulations. It's essentially a feral animal. If somebody's threatened by it, that's an option they have," Chip Corsi, Fish & Game's Panhandle supervisor, said last year.

In the online posting, Taylor defended her actions.

"Cryco was not a threat to the public, and I would have given anything to get him back and bring him safely home," Taylor said.