Family's Puppy Grows Up, Takes Surprising Turn

Adorable baby critter in Peru turns out to be a wild Andean fox
By Liz MacGahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 9, 2021 2:20 PM CST
Updated Nov 13, 2021 7:00 AM CST
Family's Puppy Grows Up, Takes Surprising Turn
Stock photo of an Andean fox crossing a gravel road.   (Pedro Carrilho/Getty Images Photo)

Run Run is on the run. The Sotelo family in Lima, Peru, raised a puppy they thought was going to grow up to be purebred husky. They raised the cute little puppy with no problem for a while. Then Run Run started to chase things, killing and eating guinea pigs, chickens, and ducks, the BBC reports. Maribel Sotelo said the expense of reimbursing their neighbors started to add up. They got suspicious when Run Run grew up to look not so very doglike, either. Instead of typical husky face he grew a more pointed head, prominent ears, dainty legs, and a bushy tail, Reuters reports.

Run Run, in fact, was not a husky at all. Run Run is not even a dog—he’s an Andean fox, a species that is actually closely related to jackals and wolves. Authorities from Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre, Peru’s national forestry and wildlife agency, are looking for the now-runaway fox in hopes of safely moving him to a wildlife center. Walter Silva, a vet for the forestry agency, said Run Run is an example of wildlife trafficking, and the agency has seen about 125 cases so far this year. “They kill the parents, and these juveniles are illegally traded in informal markets,” Silva said, per People. (More strange stuff stories.)

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