REGINA — A recent incident involving the Regina Police Service (RPS) and a dog being shot has an animal rights lawyer troubled.
On May 14 at approximately 8:10 a.m., police responded to a theft, where two dogs were allegedly taken without permission.
According to local news outlets, the dispute was over two family members arguing over who the dogs belonged to.
In their statement, police said they confronted one of the family members, and one of the two dogs bolted towards an officer, who shot it.
Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer, called this case “very troubling.”
“I've never seen police participate in a question of who owns an animal,” she added.
Labchuk said these types of disputes are a civil matter, and a court claim would have been the best course of action.
Based on the RPS’ statement, Labchuk said, “there was no indication that they explored alternative means, like leaving the property.”
Instead, Labchuk felt the officers should have called the humane society to deal with the dog.
There have been numerous cases where the RPS has been involved in dog shootings. In 2018, the RPS shot a dog while preparing for a canine training session. The dog's owner told local media outlets that it was showing no signs of aggression and only wanted to play.
Labchuk believes a lack of training with police handling dogs and officers being “trigger happy” from shooting when facing danger is causing these incidents.
Unlike in cases where police shoot a person, Labchuk says officers rarely face any recourse for hurting or killing animals.
She gave an example of a case where police ran over a deaf dog twice in Ont., later proceeding to shoot it.
The OPP officer in question in the incident was later cleared of any wrongdoing, according to media reports.
Labchuk said oversight bodies will always favour the police.
“There needs to be more training, and additional mentality and philosophy built into policing.”
The incident is currently under investigation by the RPS’ Use of Force Review Board and will also be looked into by the Saskatchewan Police Commission.
No further comments will be made by the RPS at this time.
