On Thursday, March 16, a sniffer dog named Grizz was killed by New Zealand authorities at the Auckland airport.[caption id="attachment_31647" align="alignnone" width="603"]
Grizz, the slain dog. Source: Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand[/caption]The 10-month-old Bearded Collie who was training to be a sniffer dog escaped from his handler and started running around a secured zone of the airport. He ignored the toys and food agents offered him, and they were unable to get him back under control.[caption id="attachment_31649" align="aligncenter" width="601"]
Auckland Airport. Source: Getty[/caption]After an almost three hour long chase, no one was able to capture him. For security reasons, authorities had suspended all departures and arrivals at the airport, which delayed 16 international flights.Estimating that they had done everything possible to control the animal, New Zealand authorities ordered airport police to shoot the dog, which sparked an outrage among certain passengers and animal defenders.Many people have questioned the pertinence of such an extreme decision, and asked why authorities didn't use tranquilizer darts instead of bullets.[caption id="attachment_31651" align="alignnone" width="601"]
A tranquilizer gun and dart. Source: kremlin.ru[/caption]
To justify themselves, an airport spokesman told BBC News:
We exhausted every option available and could not catch it. But there were no tranquilizer guns at the airport, and the police do not have them either.
Questioned by local newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, animal defense organizaton,Safe, expressed their anger:
A tranquilliser gun should have been used after efforts to catch the dog failed. If such a gun was not available - which it should - then they could have borrowed one from Auckland Zoo or elsewhere.
According to a polltaken by theNew Zealand Herald on their site, of more than 40,000 people, more than 65% of people say the dog should not have been killed.If you would like to help demand justice for Grizz, anonline petitionwas launched and already has more than 6000 signatures.
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