Video and photos of what appears to be a bear cub struggling to stand at the side of the road after being hit by a vehicle are circulating on social media.
An outpouring of grief has followed, as the video and photos were taken within an hour of the bear being shot by police. Police said the decision to dispatch the cub was made in order to end its suffering.
"Both the MNRF and the City were contacted by our Communications Centre, but we were informed they would not be attending," Greater Sudbury Police wrote on Facebook.
"This is not a situation that any officer wants to be in and the Police Service attempted to find an alternative before the Officers made the decision to dispatch the cub."
In her Facebook post, Anne Chadwick described seeing a bear in the middle of Skead road while driving her husband to the Sudbury airport. She writes that another car stopped at the same time she pulled over and together, occupants of both vehicles helped to move the bear to the side of the road.
According to Chadwick, it appeared the bear had broken one or two legs but was able to support its weight after some time passed on the roadside. Chadwick confirmed her location and called 911 before continuing toward the airport so her husband could make his flight. She reports returning to the scene alone within less than ten minutes.
The other persons who attended to the bear had been waiting with the animal until police could arrive. According to Chadwick, the bear was shot within a short time after officers arrived.
Police described what happened during their response: "In the morning hours of the 19th of July we attended in the area of Skead Road relative to a bear cub that had been struck by a car. Information that we received indicated that it had two broken legs and as a result of that, folks had phoned in through our 911 system and we attended.
A decision was made based on the severity of injury that the bear be dispatched for humanitarian reasons," acting inspector Terry Rumford told Sudbury.com.
"Organizationally we're always ready to learn and move forward. We've decided to go forward with what we call an administrative review of the incident to see if there are opportunities where we can become become better, where there are opportunities where we can change the way we do things."
Chadwick said she does not feel that the officer who dispatched the animal should be vilified.
"I don't think that the police officer in any way took any joy whatsoever from what he had to do. It was horrible for him, it was horrible for me, and obviously for the cub and anyone else who was there. It was difficult. I do think that we can take something from that and I don't think he should be vilified," Chadwick said.
"I don't think he's a bad guy at all and I don't want public perception to turn against them. I don't think that's the way it should be. I think it should be taken as a learning exercise if anything."
Sudbury.com will pursue the results of the review when they become available.
In the meantime, Chadwick said she intends to lodge a complaint in response to how the condition of the bear was described on the GSPS Facebook page.
She disagrees with the description of the extent of the bear's injuries and said she would be happy to talk with the police about what happened on Skead Road in the future.
