AIBU to think that something other than killing this dog could have been done?

[NotGonnaAnswerThePhone]

This is such a terrible story and not to be read by the fainthearted.

I understand that the dog could have caused an accident even at 3am when traffic is a lot quieter but surely they could have tranquilised it? Shit, even shooting it would have been more humane than accelerating towards it at such a high speed to ensure the dog would be killed outright.

A few years ago a herd of cows did get onto the A55 at 6.30am, most were caught, one was shot and one got hit by a train.

The Daily Post article

I don't think the police could have done anything different tbh, this is THE main road into and out of North Wales, it leads to a very busy port where many HGV's travel from and to. The dog could have caused a major accident.

It was a tough call. I'm an animal lover, but I can see that this was an extremely dangerous circumstance. Unlit road, high speed traffic, police in the road and an unpredictable animal darting around. The clock's ticking the whole time, and you see a couple of near misses. It would have been awful for a family to get a knock on the door, because their loved one was killed when a lorry swerved across lanes to avoid hitting an animal. We all know that we're not supposed to swerve, but it's unfortunately an instinct we all could have in a split second, when something flashes in front of your vehicle. I don't think that I personally would have had the guts to deliberately run over an animal, but I think that it was a last resort.

It was a tragic thing to happen, and it's a shame that the owner put the dog in that situation.

M6 was shut in both directions for swans...

I think the way the problem was solved was wrong, but I think the officers made the least worse choice in the situation. I think there should have been another solution, and I too question the safety of trying to run over a dog - I presume it didn't just sit there and wait to be hit.

I also think the hunt should be prosecuted - it is my understanding that dog owners are deemed to be responsible for the actions of their animals and allowing your dog to be loose on a dual carriageway is fairly up there in the antisocial behaviour list....

It was the A55 they shut at rush hour.

Giles tranqs can have dreadful effects on stressed horses - not sure about dogs.

A few years ago a hound got loose on the uni campus where I worked. It took council dog catchers more than a month to trap it, and it was particularly stressed.

A huntsman I know warned me not to go near it. He showed me the scars on his arms from bites, just to reinforce this. I love animals. If you want to blame someone, blame the hunt for not getting their hound back not the police officers who were stuck with no right answer.

BBC news report (sorry can't link, on phone) states that the dogs owner is very upset but supports the action of the police officers.

Our dog did similar once. Escaped from our farm and somehow found its way onto a main road miles away from where we live. Luckily in that instance, the police managed to catch her. If they hadn't been able to, I would have completely supported them taking her out as the police here did.

I drive on that road frequently and still go cold when I think of the accidents my stupid, beloved dog may have caused. If she actually did cause a serious accident, I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself.

The police did the right thing here.

A year or two ago a new forest pony got onto the a35. Traffic was stopped for I think a couple of hours. They failed to find the pony and restarted traffic. shortly afterwards the pony ran back onto the road and collided with a motorcyclist who died.

This was a large animal in broad daylight. Goodness knows how you find a dog on an unlit road.

There are no easy solutions. It is highly likely that any animal running around on a busy road will be run over.

Again, it's a whole lot easier to close a motorway in the Midlands in the daytime when there are a reasonable number of staff and vehicles to call on than it is to close a busy A road in North Wales at 6 a.m.

Quite Gruntled. They would also have access to more resources - Erdington is very close to Birmingham, isn't it?

I just hope the dog died instantly and didn't suffer.

I feel sorry for the police officer who had to do it, but trying to catch a loose dog is very hard and things like sedating are all well and good but sometimes it can take ages for a dog to sedate especially when stressed. Also hitting a moving target in the pitch black is near impossible. Not sure what people expect the dog section to do, set the dog on it? They are normal police and don't have dog taming powers.

It really saddens me to hear the it's only a dog/whatever animal comments though. It may be an inferior species to you but they are lives all the same and deserve respect and a humane death if nothing else.

Well, maybe they could have closed the road. Obviously the logistics of such an operation are beyond me.
But I wonder if a dog would just be a lot harder to catch than a swan.

Well a swan will either fly off, in which case job done, or waddle off at 6mph. I'm not saying they're easy to catch, just easier than a hound that can run for hours, and reach 30mph.

YABU.

Simply because you were not there, the police who are highly trained professionals were.

It's very sad but I think the police did the right thing. It sounds like the dog died quickly.

When I saw this I couldn't believe people could honestly think there was a better choice open to the police. I've got a lovely, silly bolter of a dog who thankfully has never gotten clean away but if this wa my dog id have to understand, an hgv accident is highly likely to kill many people.

gabilan that's what I suspected.
I am not a swan expert

So grateful that no people were fatally injured.

aren't swans protected by law? sucky that would change things too.

but agree that a swan moves a damn site slower and given enough space they can fly

Surely

I can't believe some posters.

To hope that the police officers will be punished or prosecuted, or forever haunted shows who has the tiny brain here.

Everyone an expert . Well, two anyway

They should have told the RSPCA that tv cameras were filming there. They would have come out

I don't get it. So a dog was running around the A55 out of control with 2 policemen unable to catch it. However they were able to drive towards it, at speed and managed to directly hit this running around, out of control dog, without them crashing into the crash barriers on either side of the road or put members of the public in danger whilst doing so? It seems pretty unlikely that the dog just stood there waiting to be hit, the police themselves said it was running all over the road. It just doesn't make sense to me.
The A55 is quiet at 3am. They could have easily of closed the road from the roundabout to the tunnel.
I wonder if they would have done the same if it was a pet dog as oppose to one a hunt carelessly left behind?

Hairy. Are you suggesting they did it for the lols? I think the reason they could hit it with a car was because can go a lot faster than a man trying to run after it.