Animal Control officer called to neighborhood for coyote sighting kills ‘loveable’ pet dog, owner distraught
In the town of Northbridge, Massachusetts, an animal control officer accidentally shot and killed a pet dog. Local police have described the incident, which has infuriated the dog’s owner, as an unfortunate misunderstanding.
A coyote was reported in a residential backyard on Tuesday, which prompted the shooting. When an animal control officer went into the woods to respond to the call, they came across what they thought was a coyote. The officer shot the animal to death because he thought it was in a dangerous position.
A closer look revealed that the animal was a domesticated dog with a flea collar rather than a coyote. Kirk Rumford, a resident of Northbridge, identified the deceased pet as Odin, a husky who was younger than a year old. Rumford said that the use of deadly force was disappointing and that there were non-lethal alternatives. He made it clear that his dog did not resemble a coyote.
“My dog would have been the most gorgeous coyote ever, on steroids. It’s huge compared to that. Look at pictures of what a coyote looks like in Massachusetts and my dog. My dog was beautiful. He looked like a wolf if anything, and there are no wolves in Massachusetts,” Rumford stated.
Rumford has gotten a lot of support from the community and hopes that his story will serve as a warning to avoid dog-authority conflicts in the future. In his loving words, he called Odin a “knucklehead” and a “lovable klutz” who was kind and enjoyed being with dogs.
Timothy Labrie, the chief of police in Northbridge, defended the animal control officer’s actions, claiming that it was reasonable in the given situation for the dog to have been mistakenly identified as a coyote. Labrie stated that the officer would not face any disciplinary action. In order to reduce the likelihood of such incidents, he counseled dog owners to take safety measures to protect their animals.
“We do have leash laws. At the end of the day if you can keep your fenced-in areas secure, keep an eye on your dog, do whatever methods that you can use to keep your dog in your yard,” Labrie said. “And also if your dog tends to wander in the woods, I would definitely have identifying markers on them.”
The shooting takes place as human-coyote encounters in Massachusetts and other areas have increased recently. In response to worries about pet deaths and the perceived threats posed by coyotes, the town of Nahant, Massachusetts, has taken the extraordinary step of entering into a contract with the federal government to eradicate the animals.
