Family in Swan Lake First Nation pretty upset police cleared after shooting dog

The owner of a family dog shot and killed by police while her children were present says she’s “pretty upset” with the conclusion that no charges would be pursued against the officer who did it. “Cops don’t get charged is what I understand,” said Candida Folder, who owned Duke, a Rottweiler. “He obviously doesn’t have any remorse whatsoever.” The dog was shot by a Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNP) officer in Swan Lake First Nation, a community located about 160 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. The officer, who remains unidentified, went to a home in the community to make an arrest on June 11, 2025. He reported that he was bitten by the dog while exiting the property. The arrest didn’t take place, but the officer returned to the house less than an hour later with a rifle and fatally shot the dog while he was chained up outside. The province’s police oversight body, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU), was alerted to the incident the next month and began an investigation to determine whether the use of force was ultimately justified. On Monday, it published its final report on the matter and concluded that no charges would be laid. However, an internal use of force report conducted as part of the investigation also pointed out the fact that, while the dog behaved aggressively, the officer had been trained in less lethal ways to handle the situation and could have handled things differently. “The evidence supports that the dog was aggressive,” IIU’s report concludes. “Lethal force was an option. The internal use of force report suggested that [the officer] would have been well served to have considered all options available, including less lethal options. The report suggested further training for [the officer] in this area, which the IIU supports. Therefore, no charges are recommended and the IIU investigation is now completed and closed.” “I absolutely hate this cop and the trauma he gave me and my family,” Folder said. “I hope he gets his karma soon.” A photo array of her dog Duke posted online by Candida Folder of Swan Lake First Nation in 2025. Photo: APTN File. The officer declined to be interviewed during the investigation. However, his report of the incident revealed he had known that the dog had bitten someone the previous day. It also detailed that he had needed to kick the dog away from him after the initial bite. During the investigation, Folder told the IIU that the officer had told her about the bite and that Duke would need to be euthanized. Assuming he would be taken to the vet, Folder told him to “go ahead,” according to the report. However, Folder said the officer instead came back to her yard and pointed a “high-powered rifle” at the dog. This was when she shut the blinds, shielding the scene from her two young kids inside. During his recounting, the officer wrote that “the dog snarled and stood up in an aggressive manner, trying to advance toward him,” and “that he made sure that he shot the dog in a safe manner so as not to put the public at risk.” A civilian witness interviewed for the report told a different story, however, of the dog “just laying” in the yard, a few feet away from the front steps, when he was shot. Duke’s body was left on the chain. Folder said that her family still deals with the loss. She can’t talk or think about Duke for too long, she said, without crying. “It still hurts to think about him; I miss him very much,” she said. “We did get another Rottweiler and named him Dice. My kids are scared the cops will come here and shoot him next. So it really impacted us in a bad way.” Continue Reading