Police Officer Capsicum Sprays Puppies

A regional NSW police officer has been caught out on camera spraying puppies with his capsicum spray. And despite being caught on camera, he refuses to take responsibility for it.

At the time the officer came to the house of Narromine couple, Michael Vizintin and Shari Carney, the couple were out. Their four puppies were at home, and they approached the officer in an unmistakeably friendly way.

Despite this, the police officer reached for his capsicum spray. The spray can cause swelling, stinging, redness and even temporary blindness when it makes contact with eyes. Obviously, it can be painful for humans and dogs alike.

The pair state that their dogs haven’t acted the same since, and had stayed underneath the house in fear of visitors. The next day, the dogs eyes were red – and “they were really agitated… and our dogs were never like that.”

Without CCTV footage outside their house, the truth of the situation may never have come to light, but the video clearly shows playful and non-provoking puppies being sprayed for no reason by the police officer.

The pair were outraged when they viewed the footage, and point out that the officer was in no danger from their friendly puppies.

They approached the officer, who treated the incident as a joke. When they confronted him with the video evidence, the officer refused to even acknowledge that the incident had taken place.

To add salt to the wound, the police officer will not face disciplinary for his cowardly and barbaric act. Inspector Mark Dixon told ninemsn that there was “certainly no action pending against the constable.” In fact, the pair were told that the police officer had acted “in line with policy!”

So the pair turned to social media, where the footage gained traction and made international news. The video has since garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

In the video, the owner can be heard saying:

“Nothing better to do than spray me pups and then deny it. Didn’t realise we had him on camera. Oh yep, you look like you’re in fear of your life, look pretty comfortable to me. Oh yep, nothing better to do than lets spray me dogs with capsicum spray. Yep they’re trying to attack you, yeah. They’re trying to lick you mate. Yeah, keep spraying, you’re right.”

The video is captioned:

“These people are supposed to serve and protect us and then turn around and spray our dogs which you can clearly see they’re friendly and went to go and lick this officer just makes you think what else are they doing. Pathetic.”

Not the first time…

Last year, CCTV caught a police officer acting cruelly towards another dog.

This time it was a member of the Australian Federal Police Force who was misbehaving. The officer sprayed the dog during a home raid, despite the fact that the dog was chained. He also threw sticks at the hapless animal.

On that occasion, a police spokesperson said that the force:

“did not condone cruelty to animals in any form. All officers are required to report all use of force actions, and the reported use of oleoresin capsicum spray is part of this requirement.”

The officer was removed from his line of work and placed elsewhere within the department, while an internal investigation took place.

What does the law say about animal cruelty?

Animal cruelty is an offence in NSW, both under section 5 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 1979 and section 530 of the Crimes Act 1900.

Unfortunately, cruelty towards animals often goes unpunished. Despite carrying maximum penalties of up to five years imprisonment, most perpetrators never face consequences for their actions.