Protest in Lethbridge after video shows officer running over deer

LETHBRIDGE (660 NEWS) – A rally drew several protesters in Lethbridge by animal rights groups to demand the police officer who ran over an injured deer last weekend be fired and charged with animal abuse.

WATCH: 660 NEWS, CityNews was live from Lethbridge

An officer came upon an injured deer on Jan. 5 and proceeded to run it over repeatedly in order to euthanize it. A video of the incident sparked outrage on social media.

“To watch a police officer — someone sworn to uphold the law — instead blatantly violating our animal cruelty laws by repeatedly running over a suffering, vulnerable animal is just appalling. Animals in that situation deserve our compassion and they deserve our help,” said Camille Labchuck, Executive Director of Animal Justice, in a previous interview with 660 NEWS.

Dozens of people came out to the rally Sunday with signs and their pets calling for the officer to be fired. Some signs read “no excuse for abuse” and “respect existence or expect resistance.”

A couple of protesters told CityNews if it were anyone else but a police officer, they would’ve already been fired from their job.

“This officer should not be in a position of law after what he did,” said Cindy Saqulich, who is with a local animals rights group.

“What if this was someone’s family dog [or something else] that people had seen? It’s disturbing… It’s very disappointing to see someone in a position of law act like that. I hope that there are stiffer penalties and there will be more rules and regulations and that officers will have more knowledge of what to do in that situation.”

Another protester told 660 NEWS the officer should not be fired but instead be made to spend time at an animal shelter nursing wounded animals back to health.

“[His] whole family could suffer if he loses his job [and source of income],” she said, but not everyone is so forgiving. A petition calling for the officer to be fired has already garnered over 65,000 signatures.

“He needs to be fired. He needs to be in jail,” said a different woman in the crowd. “If it was any one of us we would’ve already been in jail.”

READ MORE: Animal rights group calls for charges after Lethbridge police officer runs over deer

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating the officer’s actions after police were made aware of the witness video, but a protester said she is skeptical about the ongoing investigation.

“What more investigating do you need? There’s a video! You can’t get any more black and white besides video. What more do you need?”

Under Alberta’s Animal Protection Act, a peace officer can only euthanize an animal in distress if a registered veterinarian agrees, or if no veterinarian is readily available.

There’s no indication a veterinarian was consulted, although there is a 24-hour animal clinic in Lethbridge. Also, under police policy, it is recommended that an officer euthanize an animal with a firearm.

ASIRT says death threats have been made against the unidentified officer. They understand the passion people have for the case, but that passion should not supersede reason.

-With files from Tom Ross, Megan McPhaden

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