Queensland police shoot dog after hitting it with car in Mount Isa
Police officers shot and killed a dog after they had hit it with their car before leaving it in front of community members, including children, on a suburban street in northwestern Queensland.
Footage taken from down the street shows a police officer standing over the injured animal and shooting directly with a hand gun.
The dog is seen wagging its tail when people start shouting.
“It was a pet and you just ran over it; it was the little girl’s dog,” a woman behind the camera shouts, while two young girls are seen running away from the scene in tears.
The footage shows the police officer shooting only once, but the woman who shot the video can be heard saying the police had already shot the dog once.
A police spokesman defended officers’ actions after the dog ran in front of a police vehicle on Mill Street in the Mount Isa suburb of Pioneer at around 3.40pm on Sunday.
“It is believed a dog came from under or behind a parked car and was run over,” they said.
“Neither the driver nor the passenger saw the dog before the collision.”
They said a supervisor arrived on scene within three minutes and a decision was made to put the dog out of its misery.
“This incident was traumatic for the officers involved, the community and the dog’s owners, but was considered the most humane and appropriate course of action available at the time,” officials said, adding that police interviewed the dog’s owners.
The spokesperson said that the police officers’ body camera footage was reviewed and it was confirmed that the officers made the right decision.
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