DETROIT, Mich. -- The Detroit Police Department is responding to a video that shows an officer fatally shooting a dog in its own yard.
Officers say it happened Aug. 3 on the east side of the Michigan city.
The video shows the dog in a yard latching onto a police K-9's snout and not letting go. The officer then drew her weapon and shot the dog, which died from its injuries.
"It's unfortunate that it came to this. We do not like to see any animal hurt, especially these K-9 officers. They are truly dog lovers and champions for K-9s. But at this point, her dog was being severely injured and had no choice," Commander Darin Szilagy said.
Detroit police did internally investigate and cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.
That K-9 officer continues to be evaluated and treated for injuries. DPD will conduct further testing to see if the K-9 is suitable to continue serving.
This story was originally published by staff at WXYZ.
