Rumley’s devastated as ‘lost’ wolfdog Axel dies

THE owners of a Czech wolfdog that went missing in the Ballinhassig area last week said they are devastated that ‘Axel’ was found dead on a farm in Ballygarvan  on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack.

Rumley’s Open Farm in Waterfall said that they discovered Axel was missing last Friday morning and may have been frightened following a sudden thunderstorm the previous evening. ‘Axel was an older dog and had been with us 12 years. He was very shy and would not have approached people,’ said Ivan Rumley.

There had been a number of reported sightings in the general area over the weekend. While he wasn’t considered a threat to the public, people were asked to give him space if they had spotted him.

‘We conducted a long search in conjunction with the CSPCA in bringing him back home, but sadly he suffered a heart attack during the rescue. We would like to thank everyone who helped us with the search over the past few days. We are so sad that this is the outcome.’

The modern Czech Wolfdog is predominantly German Shepherd but still retains a significant percentage of wolf DNA.