Dog shot dead in small eastern Nova Scotia community

A dog has been shot dead in a small community in Nova Scotia'sGuysborough County in what police describe as a serious and rare incident.

RCMP saidthe dog had been outside last Friday evening in the area of Highway 7 and Bakers Road in Marie Joseph, about 50 kilometres east of Sheet Harbour.

That's when the owner of the dog, who was not home at the time, received a call from a neighbour saying the dog had been shot and succumbed to his injuries.

The following day, the incident was reported to RCMP.

Cpl.Chris Marshall could not say what kind of dog it was, or why the dog was outside at the time, adding that is part of the investigation.

He described the incident as unusual.

"We're looking at cruelty to an animal, given that the dog were shot, injured and then died from itsinjuries," Marshall in an interview Thursday.

"But it's also potential firearmscharges and those kinds of things too in terms of discharging a firearm, so it's a serious incident andit is rare that we respond to these things."

Police are asking anyone with information on the incident, who may have been in the areas of Highway 7 and Bakers Roador who heard gunshots between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the same areato contact them.