Jim Simkins feels he has been consistently harassed, and he is tired of it.
For the past four years, Simkins has been living his childhood dream of raising wolves on an acreage on Glenmore Road.
Simkins has eight wolves and eight dogs, and says that working with them is a lot of fun, what he calls the “ultimate” experience.
However, he says many calls have been made to dog control and the SPCA about him, and he is fed up dealing with the complaints.
He says any time the SPCA has brought an issue to his attention, such as not meeting the required fencing, he has met the requirements and the issue has been resolved.
When contacted, SPCA confirmed that all of their past issues have always been resolved.
The number of complaints came to a breaking point recently when an unknown number of people entered Simkins’ property where his animals are kept when he wasn’t around.
“They couldn’t see the water (for the animals) because a truck was in the way,” he explained.
“They filled a bucket of water, that still had some hydraulic fluid in it, and they dropped it over the fence.
“Luckily the dogs drank out of the normal water, or I’d have a bunch of dead dogs and dead wolves because of them.”
Simkins noted vandals also tried breaking into the enclosure where he keeps his animals, as one of the latches on a gate was knocked off and one of the locks was damaged.
Simkins’ issues have dated back the full four years he has been raising wolves, and with the exception of one year-long break without any complaints, the complaints have occurred on average every three or four months.
Simkins said many of the complaints have turned out to be false, such as his puppies starving, that he was giving them away for dog food or he was operating a puppy mill.
One complaint indicated Simkins had 18 dogs in his front yard and another 30 in the back yard.
In addition to the complaints that have led to the SPCA and dog control showing up, he has also had his house broken into and a husky and her puppy stolen.
“I’m tired of being slaughtered,” Simkins explained.
“I need the public to realize I’m doing good, not bad. I’m not a bad person, I’m not harming my animals, but this is what I’m getting from people.”
Simkins is currently in the process of building a kennel, and he said due to the construction there is a mess around his animal enclosure.
Simkins believes people may see the mess and from that make judgments about the wellbeing of his animals.
He asks anyone who has concerns to fully check things out before contacting the SPCA or dog control.
Simkins is also clear in expressing that he has no issue with either agency and understands why they must follow up on received complaints.
Despite the stress and feeling of harassment that Simkins has experienced the past four years, he hasn’t given up on continuing his childhood dream—in addition to the kennel he is building, he wants to construct an agility course and a wolf sanctuary for injured wild wolves to be rehabilitated.
Once those tasks are completed, Simkins hopes to open the facility to the public and use the sanctuary for educational purposes.
He says wolves raised responsibly in captivity can be harmless and trusted around adults or children.
