VANCOUVER -- Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a German shepherd puppy on a First Nations reserve near Kamloops this week.
Authorities said the dog's owners were inside their home on the Tk'emlups reserve around noon Tuesday when they saw a pickup truck suddenly swerve toward their property.
The vehicle then struck their puppy, which was standing at the foot of their driveway.
"The owners weren't sure whether the vehicle crossed the centre line on purpose of whether the driver was somehow distracted," said Cpl. Jodi Shelkie of the Kamloops RCMP.
The animal died at the scene. The horrified family told police the driver stopped briefly but took off when they came outside.
"It would appear that since he did stop for a good chunk of time after he struck the dog that he was aware that he hit something," Shelkie said.
Though a hit-and-run involving a family pet wouldn't be prosecuted under the Criminal Code, the RCMP said leaving the scene is still chargeable under the Motor Vehicle Act.
The puppy was named Koda, according to a Facebook post by owner Morning-Star Peters, who asked anyone with information on the pickup or its owner to call police.
"We are extremely saddened by the loss of our fur baby but it could have been anyone or anything this man hit," she wrote.
Peters said the young dog weighed 53 pounds, so it's possible the pickup sustained some minor damage.
The witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a white Ford F150 crew cab with a black toneau cover over the bed. After the crash, the pickup was seen heading west down Chief Louis Way.
The driver is described as a white man between the ages of 45 and 50 who was wearing a black hat and sunglasses.
