A municipality in Anjar apologized Wednesday for the death of a pet dog that was killed by a local policeman, claiming that the shooting was necessary for the protection of the town's residents.
In a statement, the mayor of the Anjar town of Hawsh Musa, Vartkes Khoshian, said the municipality “was sorry” for the incident that took place on Saturday and caused outrage on social media.
“We respect animal rights and the life of all things,” the statement said, but added that the killing of the dog was necessary to protect people living in the town from being bitten.
A video of the incident, which began to gain traction on social media Tuesday, shows a white, fluffy dog being chased by a municipal policeman, who then fires multiple shots at the dog with a handgun, severely wounding it.
The policeman then delivers a final blow to the dog’s head, killing it and then dragging it into the back of a police van.
According to the municipality statement, the dog had become aggressive Saturday evening and had bitten a number of residents, including two children. A veterinary report seen by The Daily Star Wednesday said that the dog was in a state of “hysteria” and “out of control.”
However, Ghina Nahfawi, a member of the Animals Welfare Activists group, doubts the authenticity of the report. She told The Daily Star that the six-year-old husky, named Lucky, had merely been play-biting and was known and liked in the local community.
She described the way in which the dog was killed, with six bullets being shot into its body before the fatal shot, was “barbaric” and had outraged the “whole community of animal lovers” in Lebanon.
“The situation could have been better handled, with anesthesia rifles for example,” she said.
Joe Maalouf, the popular TV host, tweeted that “there is no justification for the barbaric and provocative killing of the dog,” while another Twitter user said the video “gave people a monstrous example of how to treat pets.”
In an interview with local TV channel LBCI Tuesday night, Khushian apologized for the way in which the dog was killed, but said the officers “had no choice.”
“It was our last resort,” he added.
The Daily Star could not immediately reach the mayor for comment Wednesday.
But Nahfawi blames the Lebanese authorities for not effectively implementing the animal welfare law that was signed by President Michel Aoun in 2017 that seeks to protect both wild and domestic animals from abuse.
Nahfawi also blamed the lack of the law’s implementation for what she called the “Ghobeiri massacre,” in which several dogs were killed when municipal health workers threw poison-laced meat to them.
Source : DailyMail
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