NORTHBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A Northbridge man is mourning his best friend after his dog was fatally shot by an animal control officer Tuesday who mistook the animal for an aggressive coyote.
Kirk Rumford says since the incident, he’s been grappling with the loss of his Husky, Oden.
“I haven’t slept. I don’t eat. I’m just beside myself. It’s like losing a child,” he said, noting that Oden was known to escape.
“He was an escape artist but I mean not often. My neighbors would call me and say, “Oh, Oden is over here,” and I’m like ‘I’m so sorry.’ The neighbors knew my dog because I would take him for walks all the time.”
Police say one of his neighbor’s and the officer mistook Oden for a coyote. The officer says the Husky approached the officer with his head down, nose down, and hair up. Rumford says his dog probably just wanted to say hello.
“There’s a Pomeranian next-door that he would go play with, there’s two more next door to that he would go play with them and everybody knew my dog everybody who has met my dog said he was such a good, well-mannered dog. He just wanted to play,” he said.
Northbridge police are calling the situation a tragic mistake and that the officer involved won’t be punished.
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