A court in the United States has awarded the sum of $262,000 (app. N65 million) to the owner of a dog shot dead by police in Commerce City, Colorado.
Three local police officers reportedly visited an apartment on November 24, 2012, after receiving report of a “loose, vicious” dog.
A police report said the three-year-old dog called Chloe aggressively ran towards the officers, causing Officer Robert Price to shoot and kill the dog.
According to reports at the time, the dog was first shocked with a stun gun before it was shot multiple times.
While the dog’s owner was out of town at the time of the incident, a concerned neighbour took a cell phone video of the animal’s death, which became a key piece of evidence in the case.
The offending officer, Price, was subsequently found guilty of charges bordering on animal cruelty in 2013.
The settlement, which the US Animal Law Centre calls one of the largest of its kind, is expected to be paid by the City authorities.