Bullet hit man when police shot lunging dog

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Bullet hit man when police shot lunging dog
Owner was on ground after heart attack

By Ruth Davenport
The Daily News



Dartmouth – Halifax police are launching an operational review to determine how a bullet destined for a dog ended in its stricken master’s foot.

Officers responded to a call about a Rottweiler fighting with other dogs in the Lilac Street area of Dartmouth on Wednesday. The dog had escaped its kennel and was menacing other dogs in the neighbourhood, whose owners called police and the Rottweiler’s owner.

En route to get the dog, the elderly owner apparently suffered a heart attack. Officers arrived to find the dog threatening anyone who came near.

“The dog never actually bit the officers,” said police spokesman Sgt. Don Spicer. “But every time they tried to get to the man to offer assistance, the dog growled and lunged at them.”

The officers eventually shot the dog to reach the man, though preliminary reports from the medical examiner show he died before they arrived on scene.

The dog, it seems, was man’s best friend to the bitter end.

“My understanding is that the dog’s owner was the man who died,” explained Spicer. “It was circling him and fending off people who approached in an attempt to protect its master.”

The discovery of a wound on the victim’s left foot prompted police to request an examination from the medical examiner, who revealed that a bullet caused the wound after passing through the dog’s body.

“We’ll be conducting an operational review to look at all aspects of the case,” said Spicer. “So we’ll check that everything was followed properly in terms of policies and procedures so that hopefully we can do things better in future.”

While Spicer said that officers are trained to be aware of what’s around a target that they’re firing on, an officer’s best efforts can be undermined by the nature of bullet trajectories.

“A bullet can very easily change direction once it’s in something, if it hits or bounces off something like a bone,” he explained. “I can’t speak to this case specifically, but that’s one of the things the operational review will look at.”

[Wrath]

It's a shame on all sides

[KRISSIE]

This is very, very sad!

That dog was indeed protecting his owner . Quite honestly , if that was me on the floor my dogs would probably protect me too.

It is so sad that this man and dog had to loose their lives, very heartbreaking story ! :(