The State - News from June 13, 1985

Sylvia, a hungry 70-pound timber wolf, was captured three days after she slipped through an open gate to wander through San Francisco. Sylvia managed to trudge about six miles since escaping Sunday morning, said Richard Avanzino, president of the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He said the owner and two dogs Sylvia had come to like were taken to the Twin Peaks area after Officer Armand Rios spotted Sylvia and began to trail her. “But by the time we got there, (Rios) was able to get close enough to get her to come to him to eat his lunch. It was a ham sandwich. She devoured it with great relish,” Avanzino said. The 14-month-old wolf had been raised since it was 2 weeks old by people who asked not to be identified, Avanzino said. Keeping a timber wolf, protected by the federal government, requires special permits and is forbidden by city ordinance. The people who raised her probably will not get her back, Avanzino said.