Windsor woman in disbelief after police shoot, kill dog in her backyard

Windsor resident Diane Scott is still in disbelief after she says police shot and killed her 10-year-old dog in her backyard Thursday morning.

After someone knocked on Scott's door in the Forest Glade neighbourhood, she said she went to let her dog, Chloe, out in the backyard, as the Rottweiler Doberman gets excited when people are around.

Having done so, Scott says she opened the front door to two Windsor police officers — they were looking for her son's friend, who was at the house.

Before she knew it, Scott said she heard a gunshot from the backyard. It turns out that while officers were at the front door, others had gone to the back.

"I was like, 'What the hell,' and they said, 'Go attend to your dog, your dog has just been shot.' And I was like, 'What? My dog has just been shot?'" Scott said, adding that she didn't even know officers were in her backyard.

Chloe then came back into the house, went into Scott's bedroom and curled up on the carpet.

"They said [the dog] was running toward them and was going to attack one of the officers," Scott said. "She's never attacked anybody, she's always a friendly dog. She just wants to run up to you and say hi ... she does look scary 'cause she's a Rottweiler, but because she was running up toward you doesn't mean you have to shoot and kill her."

In a news release Thursday night, Windsor police confirmed that an officer shot their gun and killed a dog while at the home on Lynngrove Court "conducting an investigation."

The incident is now under investigation, police said.

Scott says Chloe was a friendly dog who wouldn't have attacked the officers. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)

Scott said police could have Tasered or pepper-sprayed the dog if they needed to, but there was no reason for them to shoot her.

After the dog was shot, Scott said one of the officers asked if he could come into the home and help. When Scott agreed, she said he wrapped the dog's wound and applied pressure.

The officer, according to Scott, held the wound for 30 minutes until a police transport vehicle arrived to bring the dog to a local vet.

Scott said police waited at the vet for an hour before leaving. Following an emergency surgery and resuscitation, the vet told Scott that Chloe died as a result of the wound.

"My friendly dog that I've had, my protector in my house, she's gone," Scott said through tears.

Following the incident, Scott posted to a Forest Glade Facebook group seeking advice, with many people offering their support.

"I'm just discombobulated right now ... I've got the community saying they're there for me right now, which is comforting, but it's not going to bring [Chloe] back," she said.

According to Scott, the vet's bill came out to $3,955, and cremation is going to cost around $1,000 more.

Scott said she doesn't have the money to foot the bill and thinks police should take responsibility. A GoFundMe for Scott has raised more than $1,000 as of Thursday evening.

She said she will file a complaint to Windsor police and will talk to a lawyer so she can file a lawsuit.

The friend of her son who police were looking for was taken away by the officers, but Scott said she doesn't know what happened after that.