A Nassau County man was issued an appearance ticket last week after he was accused of possessing two illegal wolf-dog hybrids at his home. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Officer Zachary Prentice received a call from a Nassau County police officer on Oct. 4 about a person in Hempstead who had two wolves.

Prentice met the officer at the Hempstead home and found two large steel cages inside that housed dogs that resembled wolves, authorities said. The officers interviewed the owner and examined his documentation. The officers learned the animals were wolf-dog hybrids that had been purchased in West Virginia, where they are legal.

However, possession of a wolf-dog hybrid is prohibited in New York. The dogs were seized and transported to the Holtsville Ecology Center.