A Riverdale woman who found a wounded wolf lying on Lewes Boulevard is upset with whoever hit animal and didn't stop.

Tami Yardley was on her way home from the bus station at about 5 a.m. last Saturday after having picked up someone.

She came across what she first thought was a dog lying in the middle of the road in front of Selkirk Elementary School.

Yardley said she noticed the animal's rear leg had been seriously injured, so she didn't want to move it.

She also knew she could not bring it home, already having her own pets to care for.

Instead, Yardley called the RCMP and stayed with the animal until they arrived shortly after.

The officers contacted a local veterinarian and transported what was still thought to be a dog to a local vet clinic.

'I just want to know why people have to be so cruel,' Yardley said today of the unknown motorist who failed to stop and assist the animal after it was obviously struck by a passing vehicle.

'It is wrong.

'You should stop and look after the animal,' she said. 'It was still alive and they left it in the middle of the road. At least have the decency to move the animal.'

The animal was conscious but subdued when she went up to it. It was treated at the clinic through the remainder of the weekend.

It wasn't until early Monday morning that the Department of Environment was called to assist with making a positive identification.

Environment spokesman Dennis Senger said today department staff confirmed it was a wolf, about six months old.

Both its rear and front left legs had been broken. The animal also showed distinct signs of being undernourished and was in poor physical condition generally, he said.

Senger said a decision was made to destroy the young male wolf and cremate it.

'It had been feeding on grass and berries, but it was not a garbage wolf,' he said.

Officials suspect it either became separated from its pack or had moved off to live on its own.

There have been no reports of a pack nor other wolves in the area, he said.