COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Some residents of northwest Colorado Springs are afraid that a pack of wolf-dog hybrids is running loose in the area.

At least three residents told The Gazette newspaper they've seen the animals in a wooded, hilly area south of the Air Force Academy and adjacent to the Pike National Forest, where deer and coyotes roam.

Police and national forest officials say they don't know of any reports of the animals. The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region said no one has reported any pets dead or missing from an attack by hybrids.

Resident Walt Baker said he has seen the animals twice. He said residents are having trouble getting help.

Baker said state wildlife officials told him they don't handle wolf-dog hybrids, only wolves, and animal control officials didn't have a trap big enough for the animals.

Residents believe they were let loose during the 2002 Hayman fire by a property owner who had nowhere to keep them, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

Baker has enlisted the help of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has a program to trap and kill nuisance predators, including wolf-dog hybrids but either property owners or local governments must come up with the money for the program. Baker is now trying to raise that money to help keep his neighbors and the nearby school safe.