Alberta’s justice minister has ordered a review into the shooting of a cougar near a Calgary hospital.
In a statement updated on the Alberta Justice blog, Jonathan Denis says he is not an expert on how the situation should have been handled but wants a full review of the matter.
Wildlife officers shot and killed the cougar on Thursday after it wandered onto the South Health Campus and was lying in tall grass.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife officials say they have received numerous complaints about how the situation was handled.
The decision not to tranquilize the cougar prompted public outcry, but officials say the adrenaline in the cougar at the time would have likely cancelled out the effects of the tranquilizer and increased its agitation.
Given that the cougar was right next to the hospital entrance, Alberta Justice’s statement said wildlife officers made the choice to kill the cougar because of the risk it could have posed if it escaped.
However, witnesses said the cougar was just snoozing in the grass and that wildlife officers could have tried to corral it.
Denis says he will make the results of the review available to the public as much as possible, unless there are “privacy or enforcement-related considerations.”
The statement says the purpose of the review will be “to ensure proper procedure and protocol was followed.”
