A Kenora dog has received a warning, but won't face any further repercussions, over his brief flight from the law on the weekend.
Emme Thompson — who's attending school in Halifax — said her dad and his girlfriend were walking her dog, Finn, on a trail near Tunnel Island back home in Kenora. The trail travels through a wooded area.
"They thought they would let him off the leash a little bit to run around, and I guess he caught the scent of a deer, because he just all of a sudden took off into the bush and was gone," Thompson said. "He wouldn't listen to any calls or whistles."
A few minutes later, the family got a call from Kenora OPP, saying they had Finn in custody. Finn, Thompson said, had been spotted chasing a deer across the frozen Lake of the Woods, and someone called the police.
"I think he caught up to [the deer], and they had a bit of a scuffle," Thompson said. "But it seemed to get away when the cop was chasing after [Finn]."
"He's a pretty small dog, so the deer could've easily taken him."
Finn was brought back to Thompson in the back of an OPP cruiser. A photo was posted on Twitter — as of noon Monday, the photo had about 2,500 comments, 155,000 retweets, and more than half-a-million favourites.
someone called the police on my dog because he ran away and attacked a deer and i know this is serious but the sight of him in the cop car i’m alskdjfhsgh 😂😂😭😭 <a href="https://t.co/czZqzzc3x3">pic.twitter.com/czZqzzc3x3</a>
—@emmethompsonnThe response, Thompson said, has been positive, with people expressing concern for the Finn, who she said is a bit "banged up" from the scuffle, but he's doing well.
Deer, Thompson said, are a problem in Kenora, with groups of them showing up regularly in peoples' yards.
"We did get him from up north, and I'm sure he was running with a pack of dogs there," she said. "That may have been where he learned to chase deer."
"We certainly don't encourage it," Thompson said. "He just can't really help himself sometimes."
The OPP have released Finn back to the family, and Thompson notes there are bylaws that prohibit dogs from chasing deer. She hasn't heard anything formal from the OPP since the weekend incident, however.
"We're just hoping that the worst-case scenario is maybe we get a fine," she said. "From now on, we'll just have to keep him on the leash, but it is sort of sad that he can't run around anymore."
A Kenora OPP spokeswoman told CBC News that Finn was given a "stern warning" about staying on his leash, but otherwise, the matter has been dropped.