An animal control officer shot and killed a pet dog in a Massachusetts town after mistaking it for a coyote in an incident that has the animal's owner fuming, but that local police are describing as a sad mix-up.
The shooting happened on Tuesday after police received a call of a report of a coyote in a residential backyard, said Timothy Labrie, chief of police in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The animal control officer went into the woods to look for the coyote and found what they thought was the animal in a threatening position and shot it, he said.
The officer then further examined the animal and saw that it had a flea collar and was a pet dog and not a coyote, Labrie said. Authorities then located the dog's owner, he said.
The dog's owner, Kirk Rumford of Northbridge, said the dog was a husky named Odin that was less than a year old. Rumford said he felt non-lethal methods could have been used, and that his dog doesn't resemble a coyote.
“My dog would have been the most gorgeous coyote ever, on steroids,” Rumford said. “It's huge compared to that. Look at pictures of what a coyote looks like in Massachusetts and my dog. My dog was beautiful. He looked like a wolf if anything, and there are no wolves in Massachusetts.”
Rumford said he has received an outpouring of support from the community, and he hopes his story will help prevent further encounters between dogs and authorities. He described Odin as “a knucklehead” and a “loveable klutz” who had a loving disposition and loved to play with other dogs.
Labrie said it was reasonable for the animal control officer to mistake the dog for a coyote, and the officer will not be disciplined. Dog owners can prevent these kind of mix-ups by keeping their dogs secure, Labrie said.
“We do have leash laws. At the end of the day if you can keep your fenced-in areas secure, keep an eye on your dog, do whatever methods that you can use to keep your dog in your yard,” Labrie said. “And also if your dog tends to wander in the woods, I would definitely have identifying markers on them.”
The shooting happened as communities around Massachusetts and elsewhere in the country have seen an uptick in interactions between people and coyotes. One town, Nahant, moved to become the first in the state to contract with the federal government to kill coyotes after residents said the animals killed pets and posed a dangerous nuisance.
Some scientists have said coyotes in the Eastern states have begun displaying increasingly wolflike traits as they have carved out a position near the top of the food chain. They are also hard to control.
Remington Moll, an assistant professor of natural resources at University of New Hampshire, led a study published in Ecography this month that said it is possible hunting coyotes doesn't decrease their abundance, and can actually play a role in increasing it.
“Intensive coyote removal can obviously reduce populations in the short-term, but removal can also result in younger coyote populations with higher reproduction and immigration rates,” Moll said in a statement.
Northbridge, a town of about 16,000 people about 43 miles west of Boston, has had its share of interactions between people and coyotes, Labrie said. The animal control officer who shot the dog was a veteran officer who has had many encounters with coyotes over the years, Labrie said.
“We've definitely seen a little bit of an uptick in coyote calls,” Labrie said. “What's causing it, I don't know.”
This image provided by pet owner Kirk Rumford, pictured, shows him getting licked by his dog Odin, a husky, which was accidentally shot and killed by an animal control officer on Tuesday Nov. 19, 2024, in Northbridge, Mass. Odin was mistaken for a coyote in an incident that local police are describing as a sad mix-up. (Kirk Rumford via AP)
This image provided by Kirk Rumford shows his dog Odin, a husky, which was accidentally shot and killed by an animal control officer on Tuesday Nov. 19, 2024, in Northbridge, Mass. Odin was mistaken for a coyote in an incident that local police are describing as a sad mix-up. (Kirk Rumford via AP)
This image provided by pet owner Kirk Rumford shows his dog Odin, a husky, which was accidentally shot and killed by an animal control officer on Tuesday Nov. 19, 2024, in Northbridge, Mass. Odin was mistaken for a coyote in an incident that local police are describing as a sad mix-up. (Kirk Rumford via AP)
MALAGA, Spain (AP) — The last man to face — and beat — Rafael Nadal in professional tennis, 80th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, converted his 10th match point Friday to finally close out a 6-4, 6-7 (12), 6-3 victory over Daniel Altmaier and help the Netherlands reach its first Davis Cup final by sweeping Germany.
Tallon Griekspoor, who is ranked 40th, sealed the 2-0 win for the Dutch in the best-of-three-match semifinal by hitting 25 aces and coming back to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4. When it ended, appropriately, on an ace, Griekspoor shut his eyes, dropped to his knees and spread his arms wide.
“We have been talking about this for two, three years,” Griekspoor said. “We believed in ourselves so much. We always felt like this was possible. To do it now feels unbelievable.”
The other semifinal is Saturday, with No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy taking on Australia. The championship will be decided Sunday.
“We don’t have that top 5 player. We don’t that top 10 player. We don’t have that top 15 player,” Dutch captain Paul Harhuuis said. “But it’s a team effort. … So proud of these guys.”
In Friday's opener, van de Zandschulp was up a set and just a point away from leading 5-2 in the second when Altmaier began playing more aggressively and interacting more with the German fans, yelling and throwing uppercuts or raising his arms after key points. In the tiebreaker, Altmaier managed to save five match points before converting his own fourth set point to extend the contest.
But van de Zandschulp — who upset four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open — quickly moved out front in the final set, even if he eventually needed five more match points in the last game before serving it out.
“At some point, I didn’t know what to do any more on the match points,” van de Zandschulp said. “I had the toughest match of my life on Tuesday (against Nadal), so everything that comes next is maybe a little bit easier.”
In the quarterfinals, van de Zandschulp outplayed Nadal for a 6-4, 6-4 result that marked the end of the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s career because the Netherlands went on to eliminate Spain 2-1.
The 38-year-old Nadal announced last month that the Davis Cup would be his final event before retiring.
Presumably because people purchased tickets ahead of time with plans to watch Nadal compete in the semifinals, there were hundreds of unoccupied blue or gray seats surrounding the indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain on Friday.
Now truly a neutral site, the place was not nearly as loud and rowdy as on Tuesday, although there were shouts of “Vamos, Rafa!” that drew laughter while van de Zandschulp played the 88th-ranked Altmaier.
It took Griekspoor more than 75 minutes and nearly two full sets to figure out how to break No. 43 Struff and then did it twice in a row — to lead 6-5 in the second set, and then go up 1-0 in the third. That was plenty, because Griekspoor saved the only two break points he faced.
The Netherlands hadn’t been to the semifinals since 2001. The Germans — whose best current player, two-time major finalist Alexander Zverev, is not on the team in Malaga — have won three Davis Cups, but not since 1993, when 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich led them to the title.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
The Netherlands' Davis Cup team celebrates their qualification for the final after defeating Germany at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor competes against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff returns the ball to Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER - Daniel Altmaier returns the ball to Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER - Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp returns the ball to Germany's Daniel Altmaier during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Tennis spectators attend the Davis Cup match between Germany's Daniel Altmaier and Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER - Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp returns the ball to Germany's Daniel Altmaier during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER - Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp returns the ball to Germany's Daniel Altmaier during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER Germany's Daniel Altmaier celebrates a point against Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor celebrates a set against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor celebrates a set against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor serves to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
CORRECTS NAME GERMAN PLAYER - Netherlands' Botic Van De Zandschulp returns the ball to Germany's Daniel Altmaier during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor is congratulated by teammates after winning Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor celebrates after winning against Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
