The Three "Wolves" Captured In Preston, Lancashire

  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.”

                                                                    -------

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 31^st 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.