We’ve all heard of designer dogs who sell for thousands of dollars — like the totally adorable but often irresponsibly bred Frenchieopens in new tab. You may even be up-to-date on debates around Svalinn dogs,opens in new tab the luxury bodyguard pups who sell for $150,000 after years of inhumane training. But Cadabomb Okami puts all of them to shame. The fluffy brown canine was recently sold for the equivalent of 5.7 million U.S. dollars, making him the most expensive dog in the world.
The pup’s high cost is due to his rarity — he’s the first and only dog of his breed — and touted as the rarest dog in the world. Okami is one-half Caucasian Shepherd,opens in new tab a super large, delightfully fluffy breed native to the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe. His other half? Literal wolf.
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The ridiculous price tag
Anyone with an interest in animal welfare is probably rolling their eyes — if not tearing their hair out — by now. The simple truth is there’s no reason to spend millions of dollars to bring home a pup. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animalsopens in new tab (ASPCA), there are approximately three million dogs in shelters in the United States alone. Those pups are in desperate need of caring homesopens in new tab and will put you out an adoption feeopens in new tab of 50 to a few hundred dollars. And if your heart’s set on a specific breed — even a designer one — you can probably find one of them in a shelter, too. opens in new tab
Though we don’t know anything about who bred Okami, we know he was born in the U.S. and sold through a broker in India to S Sathish, a Bengaluru-based dog collector and former dog breeder, in February. Okami is only eight months old and already about 165 pounds and 30 inches tall. Interesting fact: The hefty Caucasian Shepherd is often bredopens in new tab as a guard dog to protect herds of livestock against predators including coyotes and, yep, wolves.
While Sathish stopped breeding dogs himself about ten years ago, he currently raises over 150 different dog breeds and is president of the Indian Dog Breeders Associationopens in new tab, reports The Sun. Last year, Sathish bought a Chow-Chow which resembles a red panda for $2.7 million. He considers his dogs something of an investment.
“I spent money on these dogs because they are rare,” Satish told The Sun. “Besides, I get enough money because people are always curious to see them. They take selfies and pictures. My dog and I get more attention than an actor at a movie screening.”
According to EuroNewsopens in new tab, Sathish charges anywhere from $2,800 to $9,000 for appearances with his dogs.
Should wolfdogs be kept as pets?
As for Okami’s ancestry, some argue that “wolfdogs” — crosses between domestic dogs and wild wolves — shouldn’t be kept as pets at all. Many wolfdog breeders and buyers have no idea what they’re getting into when they raise a partly-wild animal. Compared to domesticated dogs, wolfdogs are much more difficult to train and require a great amount of space to roam. “With a high-content wolfdog, you might start out with the puppy in the house and then, as he hits adolescence, you’ll be building an enclosure outside. You’ll have to,” Nicole Wilde, a wolfdog expertopens in new tab and author of Wolfdogs: A–Z, told Kinship.
Frank Wendland, former executive director of the WOLF Sanctuaryopens in new tab in La Porte, Colorado, added that wolfdogs are highly curious, which usually results in them pawing through absolutely everything. “Wolfdogs have to investigate,” he said. “We have a TV on the wall of our office, and I’ve seen them go into the adjoining room to see where the image is coming from. I’ve seen them shred barbecues, walls, sofas.”
Plus, wolfdogs have a strong predatory instinct, and they should be kept away from small children or animals. “Wolves tend to avoid people, as most wild animals do,” Stephen L. Zawistowski, PhD, former executive vice president and science advisor for the ASPCA, told Kinship. “They have the ‘fight or flight’ thing, and most of the time, they choose flight. But when they fight, they’re really, really good at it.”
Clearly, these creatures don’t make the right pets for the great majority of people — and some advocates believe that intentionally breeding them is a mistake altogether. For those who love wolves, a better way to honor their needs is to support efforts to preserve their habitats led by organizations like the Defenders of Wildlife.opens in new tab
While the cost of breeding Okami is absurd and raising a wolfdog is ill-advised, the good news is that Okami is safe and sound with S Sathish’s other dogs on a seven-acre farm (where each has a 20 foot by 20 foot kennel) monitored by CCTV. “There is enough space for them to walk and run. There are six people to look after them,” Sathish told The Sun. “They are well taken care of.”
