Two tales, three dogs

Nothing wrong with juxtaposition, just so long as you don't make a fetish of it.

May 21, 2009: Police officers who shot two dogs running loose cleared of wrongdoing

Zappia and Priori have said they were walking the dogs — Mika, a two-year-old husky, and Azzurro, a three-year-old German shorthaired pointer — off-leash in a wooded area behind the Emerald Links golf course when the dogs caught sight of a deer and chased after it. They were trying to find the dogs in the area at the time of the shooting, and Zappia came upon the scene just as an officer shot Azzurro.

Zappia’s father has since given the couple two new puppies, but the loss of Mika and Azzurro is still keenly felt.

June 10, 2009: Man who shot RCMP dog thought it was a stray

An Alberta man who fatally shot an RCMP breeding dog says he fired his shotgun because the German shepherd was chasing his cat.

Robert Adams of the Caroline area was on trial on charges of causing death or injury to an animal and unauthorized possession of a firearm.

Adams admitted to police that he shot the dog named Nyla on Aug. 16, 2007.

He said he thought Nyla, a breeding dog for the RCMP's Police Dog Training Centre near Innisfail, was a dangerous stray.

His lawyer said in rural Alberta farmers have the right to shoot animals, such as dogs, if they are harassing livestock.

Judge Darrell Riemer said he would issue his verdict at a later date.