Kenora, Ont., residents dismayed after police use axe in attempt to put injured deer out of its misery

WARNING: This story contains a video that viewers may find disturbing.

Some residents in Kenora, Ont., are disappointed after an injured deer was left to suffer a prolonged death over the Labour Day weekend.

In a video posted to social media, an Ontario Provincial Police officer appears to strike the deer in the head with an axe, before it flies out of his hand and nearly hits another officer. While officers are allowed to put down a suffering animal, the OPP said they aren't trained to do so in the manner shown in the video.

"They start walking around their vehicle and then they go to the deer and then he swung at it, and after they swung at it, they left and then it was still moving around and everything," said Darian Copenace, who saw the incident unfold from her home on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 3. "It managed to roll over after that and they never came back.

"I thought they were going to shoot it or, I don't know, but they never came back."

Video appears to show OPP officer strike injured deer with an axe (WARNING: viewers may find video disturbing)

OPP officer hits injured deer with axe

1 year ago

Duration 0:05

The Ontario Provincial Police says it's investigating after video taken during the long weekend shows an officer striking an injured deer in the head with an axe. (Darian Copenace/Submitted)

The deer sat on Second Street N. until the next day, but since it was a holiday Monday, it wasn't going to be picked up until Tuesday, said Michelle Richardson-Wilkie who contacted the mayor and OPP after seeing the video on social media.

Richardson-Wilkie, who lives 10 minutes away from where the incident took place, took matters into her own hands along with her husband. The two picked the animal off the road and moved it to a bush, where it was then picked up once city services resumed.

"I mean little kids could have been walking by, I just didn't want the deer laying there for two days."

Investigation underway: OPP

The OPP's professional standards unit is looking into the incident, said Bill Dickson, acting manager of media relations for the OPP.

Dickson said under the Police Services Act, officers are permitted to "dispatch" a suffering animal. He said it's a normal practice that officers may use a firearm to put a sufferinganimal, like a deer, "out of its misery."

Dickson added axes are standard issue in an OPP cruiser, but it's not a piece of equipment officers are trained to use in an incident like this.

"We can't make any determination where that will go or how long that will take, but I can assure everyone that this is not the way our members are trained to deal with this kind of situation with a suffering animal."

He said it'll be up to the professional standards unit to set the scope of the investigation. Dickson added they'll be looking at all aspects of the incident, including how it was dealt with and how it was followed up.

"We totally understand people's concerns and how dismayed people are to see this video and how disturbing it is," he said.

Advocates hope OPP takes investigation seriously

Richardson-Wilkie said she's a lover of animals and hates to see them suffer. She said even if an animal has to be put down, it should be done in a cruelty-free way.

"If it's their professional decision that this animal is suffering and needs to be put down, to be dispatched, then to do it humanely, where there's no suffering going to be happening," she said.

Kaitlyn Mitchell, the director of legal advocacy at Animal Justice, agrees. Mitchell said the organization filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

The OIPRD is responsible for overseeing all public complaints about regional, municipal and provincial police in Ontario and is an independent, civilian run agency, according to its website.

"Whatever the result of this investigation is, I hope that the OPP takes it seriously and that they take steps to make sure that when officers are called to incidents in the future, they know how to respond and they are not causing distress and suffering to innocent animals."

Copenace added she probably wouldn't have uploaded the video if the officers properly ended the deer's life,but also hopes this doesn't happen again in the future. She said she knows it's not any better if they use a gun or slit an animal's throat, but acknowledged it could help avoid prolonged suffering.

"With theaxe it obviously suffered more because it got whacked and it'sstill alive after," she said.