When a friend asked for help to build a fenced home for his dogs, Bryton Bongard made a deal: he would lend a hand in exchange for several puppies.

That is how he ended up with what is now a pack of 16 strong, black and grey wolf-dog hybrids he calls his “babies.”

The wolf-dogs that live in his backyard enclosure have never harmed anyone, Bongard said, nor have any neighbours complained since he brought the animals to his rural property in Wahnapitae, Ont., about 50 kilometres north of Sudbury, four years ago.

But the provincial government is set to seize them anyway, he said, because it is against the law to keep wildlife native to Ontario as pets or in captivity, with some exceptions for places like zoos and rehabilitation facilities.

“I’ve spent their entire lives with them … they’re just my babies, and they are basically my family at this point,” Bongard said in a recent interview.

“And it would be devastating for me to look out my window one day and not have them there.”

Bongard is prepared to surrender the pack to the Ministry of Natural Resources, but he desperately wants an answer to a question he says the province has so far refused to address: What fate awaits the wolf-dogs after they are taken from him next month?

While the government hasn’t explicitly said the wolf-dogs will be euthanized, it has told Bongard that if a sanctuary for the animals can’t be found, one last solution is that “the dogs have to be disposed of,” he said.

The ministry said it cannot provide specific details because the case is still active.

“In general, it’s against the law to keep wild animals from Ontario as pets or to hold them in captivity,” it said in a statement, noting some exceptions under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

“The government is committed to ensuring wildlife in captivity are treated with care and respect,” it said.

Bongard said the enclosure he built cost him around $35,000. The fence around nearly 8,000 square metres of land is roughly eight feet tall, with dig-proof aprons buried three feet underground to make sure the wolf-dogs don’t escape. The animals also have a cabin equipped with air-conditioning and a heater.

A butcher by trade, Bongard said he brings lots of meat scraps from work. The cost of feeding the pack varies between $60 and $200 weekly, depending on the season.

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His pets are smarter, bigger and very shy compared to dogs, Bongard said.

“They do bark and they do howl. But it sounds more like a choppy husky howl than it does an actual wolf.”

He said wolf-dogs can sometimes get destructive when they get bored, so he and his wife are playing and engaging with them every day.

Bongard said his wife – who is “mom” to the wolf-dogs – is even more heartbroken about the situation.

More than 600 people have signed an online petition calling on the government to leave the wolf-dogs under the family’s care.

“These animals have done nothing wrong — they are loved, well cared for and live with competent owners who provide them with excellent treatment, proper shelter and affection,” it reads.

The petition drew controversy after it was posted on the Wahnapitae community Facebook page. While some residents voiced support for Bongard, others raised safety concerns.

Bongard has downplayed those concerns, saying his dogs have never breached the fence. Even if they did escape, he said, they would steer clear of humans because they’re afraid of strangers.

“You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning or a vending machine falling on you than you do one of my dogs attacking you,” he said.

Bongard said he’s made several suggestions to the government in an effort to save the pack, including donating his current enclosure to a conservation group or buying more land to turn it into a conservation area.

However, he said the ministry has refused to engage in meaningful conversation.

Bongard’s troubles stared about a year ago, after firefighters showed up at his property when he had a bonfire.

“They asked me about why I had wolves in my backyard,” he said.

Local bylaw officers and ministry officials then got involved, visiting the site several times, including to do DNA tests on the animals, he said.

The government also seized nine wolf-dogs from Bongard’s friend who had given him the puppies in 2021. All were placed at a sanctuary in Alberta, but Bongard fears his own dogs won’t be able to find a home.

There are few sanctuaries for such animals in Canada and far fewer in Ontario – and they are often at capacity.

Kerry Bowman, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s school of environment, said while the exact number of wolf-dog hybrids is unknown, it could be extremely high in North America and some parts of Europe.

“Ethically, I would argue that breeding them is very, very problematic,” he said, adding that the “romanticization” of wolves in television and media has played a significant role in creating the problem.

“There’s a demand for them. They’re considered quite novel.”

Wolf-dogs are very different from dogs and keeping them as pets is not good for the animals and is unsafe for humans, Bowman said.

“There’s always a risk with wolf-dogs, even if they can be very gentle and very loving, that the behaviour could change,” he said, adding that such canines have harmed humans and pets in some cases.

Releasing them into the wild isn’t ideal because they lack wolves’ full hunting and survival skills, Bowman said. The wolf-dogs can also “weaken” the gene pool of natural wolves through interbreeding.

Still, Bowman said the case of Bongard’s pets “needs to be handled far more carefully than it has been so far,” as Canada is among the countries that are often too quick to turn to animal euthanasia.

There are many more sanctuaries for wolf-dogs in the United States and Bowman said while he doesn’t know the rules around transferring animals across the border, the owner and the government should look into it.

Bongard said he knows he broke the law and he accepts the consequences, but he is speaking out to save his animals – and to educate others about adopting “cute” wolf-dog puppies.

“When they reach maturity, which is around two years old, their personality flips,” he warned.

“Whereas one day it’s cute and fluffy, and the next day it’s eating your couch.”