Durban - A policeman who killed a pitbull in Phoenix at the weekend, has shot back at accusations of cruelty, saying police were under attack and that he was forced to take action after the dog’s owner set it on a fellow officer.
Animal activists are reportedly now calling for action against the policeman.
A member of the K9 unit and an animal lover, he said:
“I’m passionate about dogs, my dog is my partner and I consider him my closest companion.
“But I was protecting my colleague. How are policemen expected to react when they are being threatened?”
Police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said officers responded to information that there were drugs and firearms at the Steelside Place house.
He said 64 mandrax tablets were recovered and three people were arrested.
Zwane said officers had stood at the front gate for more than an hour.
“All the while, he (the dog’s owner) had the dog there, to keep the officers from getting in.”
The policeman who killed the dog had first placed a choke chain and leash on it to restrain it, Zwane said, but the owner undid these and released the dog in a bid to keep police off of his property.
“That was when he (the dog’s owner) set the dog on one of the officers,” he said.
Zwane said the officer fired a warning shot, but to no avail. That was when his colleague stepped in to shoot the dog.
The policeman said he never set out to harm the animal and that it had been a heart-wrenching call to make.
“We have to react to situations almost immediately, most of the time we don’t get time to think, consult or get advice.”
Winston Francis, whose uncle owned the dog, told the Daily News a different version of events.
He said police officers had asked that the dog be tied up and that this was done.
Police said the dog was in the street when it was shot, but Francis denied this, saying it was in the yard, behind a locked gate.
He also denied claims that it had attacked an officer when it was shot and said no warning shot was fired.
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