Scotland Yard has publicly defended itself after some of its officers shot two dogs to death in a confusing crash in the middle of a public road.
Witnesses saw the actions of the London police and assured that it was a measure”exaggerated”. Troops also arrested the owner of the animals by electrocuting him when he tried to flee.
The clash took place on Sunday. Everything was caught on neighbors’ cameras. The two most shocking videos of the moment (uploaded to Twitter by @mariaalcoptia) show several Metropolitan Police officers coming face-to-face with a man on the bank of a canal in a residential area of Limehouse.
Officers point to both the owner and his two dogs as witnesses watch the tense situation from their balconies. The man appears to be trying to stop his pets from barking at the police at the same time as the officers are ordering him to turn over the offending dogs.
He refuses and immediately one of his dogs approaches the group of Scotland Yard members. These, no doubt, they shoot and kill him.
When the animal falls to the ground, the tension rises to the max. The master tries to escape and the other of his dogs, after a brief confrontation, suffers the same fate as his companion. In the background the screams of the “spectators”.
The discharges
A woman who filmed the episode said: “It didn’t feel proportionate. It’s incredible”.
“It was so shocking. I didn’t realize it was a proper weapon until the dogs were completely down on the ground. Blood came out of it ”, she concluded in dialogue with The Mirror.
The 25-year-old witness also said her neighbors yelled “that’s disgusting” and “we are not in the US” during the accident.
Police defense
In a statement, Scotland Yard said the video “shows part of the incidentand that the two dogs “were destroyed by police officers in response to a report of a female being attacked” by a dog on Sunday night.
“Officers intervened on the scene to curb the aggressive behavior of two dogs, which was a cause for great concern and posed a significant threat to them,” the statement read.
The man, for his part, was arrested for possession of a “dangerously out of control” dog and for assault offences.
“No one was taken to the hospital. Both dogs were destroyed by police at the scene.. This is never an easy decision for any agent to make, but the police have a duty to act where necessary before further damage is caused”, reported the police.
The police force said its Directorate for Professional Standards would also “review the circumstances surrounding the incident”.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.