Outcry as police shoot 2 dogs dead and taser man
THIS is the moment police officers approached a man and two ‘out of control’ dogs before shooting the animals dead and tasering their owner.
Videos posted on social media by horrified witnesses show the officers following a man with two barking dogs on short leads along a canal in Limehouse, east London, after reports of a woman being attacked by a dog.
The officers were seen in a heated row with the man as he held his dogs. The situation quickly escalated with one of the dogs being shot, while the screaming owner was tasered and pinned to the ground.
The second dog was subsequently shot dead as witnesses looked down from the balconies of surrounding flats.
One woman, filming from a window on the opposite side of the canal, can be heard repeatedly saying ‘oh my God’, before shouting ‘are you OK’ to the man after gunshots were heard. The London force defended its actions, saying the officers had ‘a duty to act where necessary before any further injury was caused’.
The Met said the officers were forced to act swiftly because ‘the aggressive behaviour of two dogs was of considerable concern’.
Police were called to the scene on Sunday following reports of a woman being attacked by a dog in Tower Hamlets.
No one was taken to hospital as a result of the attack, but a man was arrested in connection with having a dangerously out of control dog.
A 25-year- old woman who witnessed the situation unfold told the Mirror: ‘It didn’t seem proportionate. It is beyond belief.
‘It was so shocking. I didn’t realise it was a proper gun until the dogs were just lying completely out on the ground. There was blood coming out of them.
‘I’ve never seen anything like that. You hear of these things happening in America but not here. Whatever had happened, it’s not an excuse for it to end like that.’ The Met said: ‘The aggressive behaviour of two dogs was of considerable concern and posed a significant threat to them. A man has been taken into police custody. A Taser was discharged by police.
‘Both dogs were destroyed by police at the scene. This is never an easy decision for any officer to take, but police have a duty to act where necessary before any further injury is caused. The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards will review the incident.’
‘It didn’t seem proportionate’