You can tell by the photo of the animal that it is not a purebred wolf, but a hybrid. A lot of sanctuaries will not take hybrid animals due to their nature (completely false opinion of them IMO) so it's a lot harder to take them somewhere other than animal control. Depending on what content this animal is they may even be able to adopt it out to some knowledgable owners who have had experience with hybrids before. But for them to do that would be quite a risk, and honestly if another suitable home cannot be found it's best bet as sad as it may be would be euthanasia. Having this animal end up in the wrong hands can be deadly.

Also, the game warden should know by looking at the animal that it's not "purebred" so yes, your assumptions that he's a dumb*** are correct.