Rescue group returns dog to NY woman who called cops on black birdwatcher in video

Amy Cooper, a white woman who called New York police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park, will get her dog back, a rescue group says.

A widely seen video of the incident by Christian Cooper, the birdwatcher who had asked her to put her dog on a leash as required in the park, showed Amy Cooper violently yanking the dog’s collar as she called 911 with false reports of being threatened.

After the incident became public, Amy Cooper relinquished the dog to Abandoned Angels, a cocker spaniel rescue where she had first adopted it years earlier, CNN reported.

On Wednesday, Abandoned Angels announced on Facebook that the dog will be returned to Amy Cooper.

“The dog was promptly evaluated by our veterinarian, who found that he was in good health,” the rescue wrote on Facebook. New York law enforcement agencies declined to examine or accept the dog, so it will be returned to the owner at her request, the rescue says.

Many comments posted to the Facebook post praised Abandoned Angels for its work with rescue dogs, but some took issue with the decision to return Amy Cooper’s dog.

“You need to do better,” read one comment.

“This does not make any sense,” wrote another commenter.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also took issue with the decision.

“Anyone who is this rough with a dog and hangs the animal by the neck, as in the video, clearly shouldn’t have a companion animal,” a statement from the organization reads. “Surely, a better home can be found than with Amy Cooper, and PETA stands ready to assist with that.”

Amy Cooper, who lost her job at an investment company over the incident, has since apologized for the Central Park confrontation through a public relations firm, KABC reported.

She said she “reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions,” according to the station.

“He had every right to request that I leash my dog in an area where it was required,” she said in the written statement, KABC reported. “I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause and would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris.”

Christian Cooper has accepted her apology, Fox News reported.

“It’s a first step,” he said. “I think she’s got to do some reflection on what happened because up until the moment when she made that statement and made that phone call, it was just a conflict between a birder and a dog walker, and then she took it to a very dark place. I think she’s got to sort of examine why and how that happened.”

Christian Cooper also has said he’s uncomfortable with the backlash against Amy Cooper and condemned death threats made against her, Fox News reported.

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Rescue group returns dog to NY woman who called cops on black birdwatcher in video."