Italian woman mauled to death by five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs

The five Czechoslovakian wolf dogs which killed their owner in a town near Turin

Credit: Telegraph

An Italian woman has been mauled to death by her five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs, prompting a debate over the danger posed by the increasingly popular crossbreed canine.

Mariangela Zaffino, a 74-year-old pensioner, was attacked by her five pet dogs in her apartment in the town of Grugliasco near Turin.

She was found by her daughter, who said the dogs, a cross between wild wolves and German shepherd dogs that shares many wolfish characteristics, had never shown any signs of being dangerous in the past.

Neighbours, however, have questioned the wisdom of Mrs Zaffino and her daughter keeping five large dogs in a small flat.

Police are trying to ascertain what may have prompted the dogs, named Ares, Aylen, Artù, Aragorn and Apache, to attack their owner.

A fully-grown Czechoslovakian wolfdog

Credit: Alamy

Massimo Penz, a local police commander, said the dogs had been legally registered with the authorities. “We had never had any complaints about the dogs’ behaviour,” he said.

The animals have been taken into care as the authorities decide what to do with them.

The Czechoslovakian wolf dog, which is more slender than a wolf but shares many of its physical characteristics, is a legally permitted breed that has become popular in Italy in recent years.

The breed was created in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, when an Alsatian was crossed with a Carpathian wolf in an attempt to produce an aggressive breed that could be used as guard dogs along the Iron Curtain.

It was recognized as a distinct breed in 1982. Wolf dogs are highly intelligent, hard to train and need a lot of exercise. They are not recommended for families with children.

The Czechoslovakian wolfdog has become popular in Italy

Credit: Alamy

The animals are renowned for their strength and stamina. Males can weigh more than 50lb while females weigh up to 45lb.

Fabrizio Rondalino, a former owner of a Czechoslovakian wolf dog, said that while the breed was highly intelligent and full of energy, “it should not be allowed to exit. It is a man-made invention, one of the worst breeds created.”

The dogs were loyal to their trainers but could quickly turn on and attack anyone else. The breed requires extremely strict training and needs an “enormous” amount of space in which to live, said Mr Rondalino, who looked after a wolf dog for 18 months but had to give it away to a friend who was a professional trainer.

“The breed has a highly developed predatory instinct,” he wrote in Corriere della Sera newspaper. The best option would be to sterilise every Czechoslovakian wolf dog in existence and let the breed die out, he said.