New Zealand police shot and killed a young security dog at the Auckland Airport Friday after it escaped its handler and ran loose for more than three hours on the tarmac, disrupting at least 16 flights.
A spokeswoman for Auckland Airport, Lisa Mulitalo, said the flights were delayed for safety reasons.
“The dog was clearly distressed and wouldn’t let anyone near it so the decision was made to shoot the dog,” she said.
Many people in New Zealand were upset the dog was killed and some questioned why it couldn’t have been tranquillized instead.
Named Grizz, the dog was being trained to detect explosives by New Zealand’s Aviation Security Service.
“Of course it was dark for most of the time it was on the run, they tried everything they could, but just couldn’t lure the dog back, I think it was just freaked out,” said Mike Richards, a spokesman for New Zealand’s Aviation Security Service.
Police Inspector Tracy Phillips said in a statement that the security service and airport staff had made considerable efforts over several hours to recapture the dog and had called in police as a last resort. Phillips said the outcome was not what anybody had wanted.
– with files from Reuters
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