Injured bear shot, killed by police in highway median
OPP in Ottawa said young bear was seriously injured and suffering
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shot and killed an injured young bear off Highway 7 in west Ottawa Tuesday, saying it was seriously injured and suffering with no nearby options to treat it.
OPP said on social media and in a follow-up call with CBC News that they responded around noon to reports of a bear being struck by a vehicle on the highway around Hazeldean Road.
Officers found the bear with seriously injured hind legs, they said. They did not find the driver who may have hit it.
Police say they contacted the city's bylaw department, the National Capital Commission and province's Ministry of Natural Resources to try to get the bear captured and rehabilitated, but there were no nearby facilities that could care for it.
As the bear's condition worsened, OPP said they made the decision to shoot it.
"A decision to dispatch an animal by the OPP is always made on the basis of whether it is potentially dangerous or suffering," they wrote.
"Officers were forced to make the tough decision to put the bear out of its misery."
Police urge drivers to report collisions with animals right away in the event they are able to be saved.