Police in Gatineau have come under fire for their treatment of a calf that escaped from a truck on its way to a slaughterhouse. In the incident, caught on camera, officers can be seen shooting the cow multiple times as it attempts to limp away.



Const. Pierre Lanthier defending the action, saying police “have to decide if it’s threatening for the population” and, in this case, determined that “they had no choice but to shoot the animal.”



Witness Lucille Cloutier thinks the cops should have handled the situation differently. “What I saw yesterday was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen,” she told CTV. “Coming from a region where our cops have tranquilizers, they didn’t. This would have been the most appropriate thing for them to do.”



An investigation of the incident is ongoing, but Gatineau police say there are no plans to add tranquilizers to the officers’ arsenal