Police are looking for a man who was seen shooting and killing a dog near the southern Alberta community of Coaldale earlier this week.
RCMP say a man was seen putting down an injured dog with a handgun near the intersection of Range Road 211 and Highway 512 on Monday at about 5:30 p.m.
Police say it appeared the man had been exercising the dog by allowing the leashed animal to run alongside his vehicle when it was run over.
“I think there’s nothing good about this whole situation. We certainly don’t encourage, we never encourage people to exercise dogs by using vehicles on leashes. I think this example shows that that’s a dangerous practice. In this case the dog was injured. We’re certainly not asking people to dispatch their own animals roadside by using firearms and clearly we’re asking people not to break the law by possessing handguns in their vehicles as they’re driving around our communities,” said RCMP Sgt. Glenn Henry.
The man is described as:
- Caucasian
- In his 30s
- 183 cm or 6 feet tall
- 82 to 91 kg or 180 - 200 lbs.
- Shaved head
- Wearing sweat pants
The vehicle is described as an older model Chrysler 300 with black tinted windows and a cargo mesh between the front and back seats.
“If the person turns themselves in, we would certainly appreciate it, to speak with them. We need to get to the bottom as to why this happened and this is why we’re coming to the media for their assistance and trying to identify through the public who this person is,” said Sgt. Henry.
The driver also had another dog in the vehicle and RCMP say the deceased dog was left at the scene.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Coaldale Rural RCMP at (403) 329-5080, Coaldale Municipal RCMP at (403) 345-5552 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
