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A disturbing video that appears to show an OPP officer repeatedly running over a dog before shooting it is raising concerns about how police deal with wildlife.
Collingwood OPP Detachment Commander Inspector John Trude has revealed to the public that it was a neighbourhood dog and NOT a coyote.
Collingwood resident Sarah Leggett posted the video her neighbour shot at 10:30pm Monday evening to her Facebook account.
The coyote was wandering her neighbourhood, and was at one point sniffing around Legget’s neighbour’s house. That’s when police were called.
Leggett claims the coyote wasn’t acting aggressive towards the neighbourhood’s domesticated animals. She says she made the video public because she “wanted people to see that this isn’t correct.”
The OPP claims that the dog was “aggressive” and “rabid”.
But now one resident believes that the coyote in question was actually his deaf and blind dog that had become disoriented by the weather, and fled his yard through an open gate.
Here is the video showing the officer running over the dog before shooting it.
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5PgkUR2lR4
“Due to the danger this animal posed to both people and other animals and for the safety of the community Police had to put down this animal,” said OPP spokesperson Const. Mark Kinney.
However, Kinney didn’t have an answer for why the officers had to run over the coyote three times.
“I have no idea with regards to how that rolled out,” he said. “I don’t think there is one officer out there that wants to have to end an animal’s existence. This is the best explanation we can put out with regards to what transpired that night.”
Police say they are committed to the humane destruction of wildlife that is a threat to public safety.
They wouldn’t say whether the officer in question has been reprimanded or if police apologized to the dog owner.
Agencies/Canadajournal
