A police officer has now been suspended after he refused to shoot a skunk that had bitten a six-year-old girl.
David dead, from Mount Carmel Police, Tennessee, was then called out to kill the skunk so it could be tested for rabies.
Dean, firefighter Ryan Christian and animal control officer Eddie Seabolt were first on the scene after the girl was bitten on July 27, the Kingsport Times-News reported.
Mr Seabolt told the cop that he needed to kill the baby skunk – which was already injured – because he needed to test it for rabies.
In a written statement, Dean said: ‘It’s hard for me to shoot an animal unless it’s trying to eat me because it’s here for a purpose and really hard to shoot an animal when it’s injured.’
Dean continued: ‘I stood and looked at the injured baby skunk. Chief Christian stated he would put the skunk down. Mr Christian took my service weapon and shot the baby skunk. Officer Seabolt then walked over to the skunk and placed it into a black trash bag.’
After tests, the skunk was found not to be rabid and the child was discharged from hospital.
Following the probe, Mount Carmel Police Department Chief Jeff Jackson suspended Dean without pay for three days and put him on probation for six months.
In a letter to the officer, he wrote: ‘You failed to perform your duty as an officer for the Mount Carmel Police Department by refusing to put down an injured skunk that had bitten a small child, and you put the town in a liable situation by giving your duty weapon to an unauthorized person who discharged the weapon three times to accomplish the task.
The investigation’s final report also criticized Mr Christian and Mr Seabolt for not informing the authorities that Dean had not shot the skunk.
It was the second suspension in a year for Dean. He made a false claim of inappropriate behavior against a fellow cop and was suspended without pay for a day in June.
