Video shows OPP cruiser running over coyote three times before driver shoots animal on Collingwood street
OPP Central Region has confirmed they are investigating an incident in Collingwood involving a police officer (or officers) being shown in a video running over a coyote three times before shooting it.
The video shared on Facebook by a Collingwood resident shows an OPP cruiser running over a coyote three times then the driver shoots the animal on the street.
“I was disgusted by it,” said Sarah Legget, who shared the video on Facebook. The footage was shot by her neighbour.
Leggett said the coyote was wandering in her Seventh Street neighbourhood at about 10:30 p.m., on Monday evening.
“It was just wandering the area,” she said. “The coyote was out front of my neighbours house at the door and she called the police and they came and that’s how they dealt with the situation.”
Leggett said the coyote wasn’t vicious with any animals in the neighbourhood.
“We have animals in the neighbourhood but we keep our animals in at night,” she said.
Leggett posted the video to her Facebook page and it has been shared hundreds of times.
“I posted [it] because I wanted people to see that this isn’t correct,” she said.
Collingwood OPP did respond to the video saying the animal was "aggressive" and "rabid."
“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.
Kinney said he couldn’t comment on why the officer ran over the animal three times before shooting it.
“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.”
He said the reason it was done was to ensure the safety of the community. In the release he advised residents to keep an their pets and "if you do see animals in distress, do not approach them but instead call your local animal control agency for assistance."
“Whether there is an animal, either domesticated or non-domesticated, that poses a threat to both people and the community or to other domesticated animals, we have to react to that,” he said.
Acting Sgt. Lynda Cranney of Central Region OPP confirmed investigators will be speaking with the officers involved in the response to the call about a coyote.
"We are presently looking into the circumstances around the situation," she said. "More information will be provided as it comes."
She said the OPP is committed to the "humane destruction" of animals when necessary.
Asked whether the OPP have ever hit an animal on purpose in a cruiser, she said, "I can't speak to that."
As for standard protocol for dealing with a call about a wild animal, Cranney said "every incident is investigated as an individual incident."
Jolanta Kowalski, senior media relations officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), said the ministry has been made aware of the video by simcoe.com and is looking into it.
Here's the video showing the coyote's death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5PgkUR2lR4
http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/596898 ... ingwood-s/
http://www.cp24.com/news/residents-upse ... -1.2619301
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canad ... -a-cruiser