Police officer who shot dog on Manitoba First Nation will not face charges, despite ‘concerning’ conduct
Posted August 17, 2026 12:36 pm.
Last Updated August 17, 2026 1:24 pm.
The police officer who fatally shot a dog on a First Nation southwest of Winnipeg last summer will not be facing charges.
Manitoba’s police watchdog says its investigation into the June 11, 2025, shooting on Swan Lake was reviewed by the Manitoba Prosecution Service, which decided not to recommend charges against the officer.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) says Crown prosecutors made that decision because “the available evidence does not support criminal charges under the Criminal Code or charges under the Animal Care Act,” despite describing the officer’s conduct as “concerning.”
The IIU says a Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS) officer was at a home in the Anishinabe community that morning to make an arrest, but he was told by a woman at the home that the person in question was not there. The officer told the watchdog the animal lunged at him and bit him at the knee as he was leaving the home, and that he kicked the dog in the face.
The officer told the person at the home the dog may need to be euthanized because it had bitten another individual the
previous day. The IIU confirmed the dog bit someone else the day before.
“(The woman) said ‘go ahead,’ because she assumed the dog would be taken to the vet and euthanized,” according to the IIU report.
The officer returned about 10-15 minutes later and used a high-powered rifle to fatally shoot the dog, which was chained up.
The MFNPS notified the IIU on July 9 – roughly a month later – after the civilian director determined an investigation was in the public interest.
Swan Lake is about 175 kilometres southwest of Manitoba’s capital.
