- By Liz Jackson and PA Media
- BBC News
The Met said police “have a duty to act where necessary before further harm is caused”.
The Metropolitan Police have defended their handling of an incident in which two dogs were shot and a man was Tasered.
The force said it was called shortly after 5:00 p.m. BST on Sunday following reports of a woman attacked by a dog in Commercial Road, Poplar, east London.
Footage on social media showed a man holding two dogs near Limehouse Cut before he was Tasered and the dogs were shot.
The Met said a man had been arrested.
Video showed a group of officers holding a capture pole, a riot shield and a gun approaching the man and dogs as he appeared to move away from them.
Police can be heard trying to persuade the man to return the dogs. The situation appeared to become increasingly tense before both dogs were put down.
Officers speak with a man holding two dogs before tasering him. Warning: This video contains images that may be shocking to some people.
In a statement, a Met spokesperson said: “Officers attended the scene where the aggressive behavior of two dogs was of great concern and posed a significant threat to them.
“A man was arrested in connection with the incident for possession of a dangerously out of control dog and assault. He has been taken into custody.”
The statement added that a Taser was triggered during the incident and that both dogs “were destroyed by police at the scene”, but that no one was taken to hospital.
“This is never an easy decision for an officer to make, but police have a duty to act if necessary before further injury is caused,” the statement continued.
The dogs “were not aggressive”
At the scene, a handwritten paper sign was placed on a wall to mark the spot where the two dogs were killed, with a bouquet of yellow flowers placed underneath.
One woman told BBC London journalist Matt Graveling she couldn’t believe police had resorted to shooting the dogs.
“I don’t think the dogs looked aggressive, they were both wagging their tails,” Jen said.
Jen said she believed the officers’ decision to shoot the dogs was a “choice.”
“It was crazy, there were people standing on their balconies, it was five o’clock.”
“The way to deal with this with guns in the middle of the street, with us sitting on our balcony watching this, it just doesn’t feel safe.”
She said she disagreed with the Met’s statement that the dogs posed a threat, saying it was “a choice they made” because, at that time, “dogs n ‘were not aggressive’.
Jen’s partner Marcel said: “I was very upset, I was shouting at them, I was trying to stop it somehow but I couldn’t.”
Marcel said he was ‘not sure it was necessary’ to shoot the dogs
He added: “We feel a bit helpless when things like this can happen.
“I guess it’s obviously a scary situation here, but I’m not sure it was necessary to take something that looked like a gun and shoot the dogs.”
The Met’s Professional Standards Directorate has reviewed the incident, including all available body-worn camera footage, and said it was “satisfied that there are no concerns regarding the officers’ conduct”, it said. added strength.