I was inside with my kids: Cop kills familys dog on First Nation

Warning: This story discusses the shooting of a pet. A First Nations family is devastated after a police officer shot and killed their dog last week. The family said Duke, a Rottweiler, was a loving pet and protector on Swan Lake First Nation. But Duke’s owner, Candida Folder, said on June 11 a member of the Manitoba First Nations Police (MFNP) fatally shot the dog chained in front of her home. “I was inside with my kids,” said Folder of her three school-age children. “I couldn’t do anything. “I just went to my hallway and cried because I knew what was going to happen as soon as I seen that rifle.” MFNP Insp. Darryl Hunter (Operations) confirmed the dog was killed and said it was done for safety reasons. “When the officer exited the residence, the dog who was chained, lunged at and bit the officer causing an injury. The dog had also bitten another person prior to this incident,” Hunter said in an emailed statement. Folder said the constable arrived at her home at 7:30 a.m. on June 11 looking for her boyfriend, who was not there. Photos of Duke posted online by his owner Candida Folder of Swan Lake First Nation in Manitoba after her pet was shot and killed by a police officer. “He wanted to search my house. I told him No. He said he was going to come back with a warrant. So, he didn’t wait for me to let him back outside,” she said. “He just walked out, closed the doors, and I can hear this commotion. And then he ran back inside and he says my dog bit him.” Folder said she and the officer argued as she directed him to exit out the back door. “He (allegedly) said, ‘Your dog is getting euthanized today.’ I said, ‘OK, whatever, thinking they were going to get Animal Control to pick him up and then put him down the right way.’ “But instead 15 minutes later, he comes racing back into my yard with the cop truck and he’s pulling out a rifle from the driver’s side and then walked right up to my dog and shoots him.” Folder said the officer drove away leaving the dog’s body in her front yard. “My mom’s inside the house, too. And my kids are there. So, my mom had to go outside the house and cover up the dog before the school bus showed up. The school bus was just down the road.” Folder said hearing the shot was traumatic. She says the violent death has left her children shaken and afraid. “I was able to let (Duke) loose inside the house around the kids. He wouldn’t do nothing to anyone,” she said. “I don’t think my kids will have dogs again because of that.” A selfie of Candida Folder of Swan Lake First Nation in Manitoba that was posted online. Hunter said the officer did what he had to do. “Given the very aggressive behavior of the dog and the threat it potentially posed to children and other community members, the decision was made to euthanize the animal on site,” he added in the statement. “Putting an animal down is always regrettable but our officers are faced with weighing all factors that affect public safety. As with all incidents of this nature, a review into the incident will be conducted to ensure that Policies and Procedures were followed.” Folder said the shooting was the latest in a string of run-ins she and her family have had with the officer. She said Duke, who was 1 ½, had nipped a community worker who visited the home the day before but the bite did not break the skin. “These two,” she said of the men, “think that because they have authority they can just walk up on my step and nothing’s going to happen.” Folder noted she lives in a “heavily populated area as well.” She said the officer came back to her house later in the day. “He was looking for me later that afternoon for the dog’s body, to take it to get tested for rabies. I told them I don’t want that cop near me.” ‘Dug it up’ She says her dad buried Duke, but “they went and dug it up and took it.” Swan Lake is an Anishinabe community approximately 175 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. Folder said Swan Lake Chief Jason Daniels wants an investigation “because a firearm was discharged.” Daniels did not return messages seeking comment from APTN. Folder’s aunt, Joanne McKinney, was shocked by the shooting. She alleged the officer had been “harassing” her niece, her niece’s boyfriend and her niece’s parents over the past several months. “He (the officer) knows the dog and knows the dog is defensive,” McKinney said in a telephone interview. “(My niece says) she took her kids inside and they all went and hid.” She said Folder feels guilty for not protecting her dog. But says fear stopped her. “I feel he would have shot me, too,” Folder wrote in a post on social media. The logo for the Manitoba First Nations Police that serves 10 First Nations in the province. Photo: APTN “I felt like I should have went outside to protect my dog (but) when that cop pulled up with the rifle he probably would have shot me too.” She continued: “I should have recorded shooting him but I couldn’t even look when I seen that gun. I was hiding in my hallway like a little b**** and started crying when I heard the gunshot.” The officer is not Indigenous, McKinney added. The Independent Investigative Unit that investigates fatalities involving police officers in Manitoba is not likely to look into this shooting said a provincial government spokesperson. “It does not appear to meet the requirements under their mandate,” the spokesperson said. Continue Reading