COLUMBIANA CO. Extension for wolf sanctuary

The balance of the purchase price was due Monday.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- An effort to save a hybrid-wolf sanctuary is receiving a time extension.
Monday's deadline to pay for the sanctuary land, which was sold in September during a Columbiana County sheriff's sale, came and went without payment.
But Deputy Kenny Biacco, who oversees sheriff's sales, said Monday he has been contacted by the bank that holds the mortgage on the sanctuary property, and Monday's payment deadline has been waived.
A representative of First Place Bank, Youngstown, said that the nearly $145,000 balance owed on the property likely will be paid to the county in the next couple of weeks, Biacco said.
At the September sheriff's sale, the Youngstown-based Richard E. Flauto Wildlife Foundation put down the 10 percent needed to buy the 80 acres on which the sanctuary sits.
The foundation, which operates the facility, then was faced with the prospect of raising the balance through donations.
To help spur giving, the foundation obtained tax-exempt status from the federal government, making donations to the group tax-deductible.
A foundation spokeswoman said several weeks ago that if the entire balance couldn't be raised, perhaps enough could be gathered to back a bank loan to buy the property.
Biacco said it's unclear just what sort of deal the foundation has worked out.
Spokesmen for the foundation and the bank were unavailable Monday to comment.
Hybrid wolves: Hanging in the balance is the fate of nearly 25 hybrid wolves that live within 14 acres of fenced sanctuary property.
The animals have been bred from gray wolves and various dog breeds. Their wild nature makes them unsuitable as pets.
Should the sanctuary be lost, it's unclear what the animals' fate would be. Foundation members have said it's unlikely the hybrids could survive in another location.
The facility amid remote Columbiana County hills was founded in 1997 by Richard Flauto of Boardman.
Flauto died of a heart ailment in 1999 before he could pay off the debt on the property.