DID ANIMAL SERVICES OFFICERS ACT APPROPRIATELY?
Originally published MAY 4, 2026 (updated May 14, 2026): East Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada
WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT INVOLVING DEATH OF A DOG.
A neighbourhood is traumatized and demanding answers after a stray Rottweiler named Heiniu, died during an interaction with Aurora Animal Services.
ALREADY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED & YOU’RE OUTRAGED?
Go here – see the call to action – fill out the form and send a done for you email to elected officials and others who can bring about change.
What should have been a routine call to safely retrieve two stray dogs instead became a prolonged and deeply disturbing incident witnessed by numerous community members.
Earlier in the day, reports were made regarding two dogs running at large.
A mother and daughter were able to safely secure both dogs on their private property. Witnesses state the dogs were leashed after being secured, provided water, and kept calm while waiting for Animal Services officers to arrive.
Video footage captured prior to Animal Services attendance appears to show one dog calmly tied near a bowl of water, while the second dog, Heiniu, was being gently held by the daughter.
Our first question: Do these look like vicious dogs?
PLEASE NOTE in the videos above: Rottweiler, Heiniu, is being held by someone who is a stranger to him — yet his tail is wagging.
He’s panting because he’s hot and thirsty.
Do you think he is acting agressively?
Aurora Animal Services officer Noemi Viszmeg attended the scene (arriving at 4:58 p.m.) and was able to successfully load both of the dogs, into an enclosure on the truck.
But then removed Heiniu from the enclosure – in order to photograph him.
Heiniu went in easily with treats the first time but then when she attempted to re-load him he refused.
According to multiple eyewitnesses willing to provide statements, the first officer on the scene was then NOT able to safely re-load Heiniu.
A second Animal Services officer, Hailey MacGillvray was then called to assist. (Arriving at 5:45 p.m.)
Officer MacGillvray was immediately warned not to touch his neck. She proceeded to grab his collar.
According to Government of Ontario public salary records…
While the incident took place in East Gwillimbury, the responding agency was Aurora Animal Services. Aurora’s municipal animal control officers serve not only the Town of Aurora, but also East Gwillimbury and Georgina in York Region.
What followed, according to multiple witnesses, was a prolonged and deeply distressing struggle in which officers used catch poles fitted with tightening looped cable restraints (nooses) around the dog’s neck while attempting to force him into the truck.
Witnesses state that officers were trying to lift him by his neck — via the ‘nooses’ — and that Heiniu began to gurgle as blood came from his mouth.
Witnesses report, Heiniu became increasingly panicked and distressed, repeatedly rolling and struggling against the restraints.
Witnesses report blood was pouring from his nose and mouth while TWO animal control officers, one on each of his sides twisted, tightened and pulled their catch poles/nooses in opposite directions.
Reports state bystanders called out that Heiniu was being strangled, and pleaded over and over again for the officers to stop what they were doing.
Those pleas were repeatedly ignored.
At one point it is reported that Officer MacGillivary went so far as to say “I don’t give a shit”.
Animal Services officers denied they were strangling or hurting the dog.
9-1-1 was called.
York Regional police arrived while the dog was still alive and insisted there was nothing they could do to intervene and help Heiniu– even as he was being restrained by two nooses, struggling, gurgling and bleeding from his mouth and nose.
Several witnesses report the dog remained in visible distress for an extended period of time.
According to witnesses, officers attempted to load the obviously distressed dog for 2 hours.
Again…
Witnesses state blood was observed coming from the dog’s mouth and nose during the incident.
The dog ultimately collapsed and died at the scene (between 6:50/6:57 P.M.) while members of the public watched in horror.
Heiniu’s owners arrived at 7:02 P.M.
A 20-year veteran of Animal Control/Services responds to the handling of the situation in the video below.
There are NO graphic images in the video below.
Community members who witnessed the incident report being left deeply shaken and traumatized by what they observed.
A family has now lost their dog.
This incident raises urgent questions about:
- Aurora Animal Services animal handling protocols
- Officer training in canine behaviour, fear responses, and bonded animals
- Lack of compassion, patience and understanding of scared and distressed animals
- Use of force and restraint methods involving distressed but contained dogs
- Incident oversight, reporting, and accountability measures
The level of distress, duration of the incident, and outcome demand transparency and an independent review of what occurred.
A dog is dead.
A family is grieving.
The dog’s owners have claimed his body and a necropsy is being conducted.
A community is demanding answers.
MAY 4, 2026 HEINIU – INITIAL EXAM BY VET
What follows is copied and pasted from documents released to Heiniu’s family by…
404 Veterinary Emergency + Referral Hospital
510 Harry Walker Parkway South, Newmarket, ON L3Y 0B3
(905) 953-1933
Heiniu’s family has requested a necropsy. (We’ll share those details when we have them.)
“H” is Heiniu.
“DOA” = Dead On Arrival.
Load “it” in the van? We never refer to a dog as “it”. It should be “him” but again what follows is what the vet report states…
“Presented with Aurora animal control DOA. Already in rigor mortis. Blood pouring from mouth, eyes both red.
Officers said H was running at large, was then caught in someone’s backyard. Officers then went to get dog, load it in the van and the pet turned aggressive, bit one officer. They then put him on two catch poles and tried to force him into the van. He bit his tongue, urinated on himself then stopped breathing.
Had lacerations around neck from leash being imbedded into skin. Limbs were all stretched out, straight and stiff.”
PLEASE NOTE
“Already in rigor mortis”?
Did the Mayor of Aurora, Tom Mrakas’ statement not lead you to believe that Heiniu was being transported for emergency care?
“Bit one officer”?
Several witnesses stated that the officer, Hailey MacGillivray stated she did NOT need to go to the hospital, that she was fine.
“He bit his tongue, urinated on himself then stopped breathing”?
This is a very different description than what witnesses reported. Witnesses reported that the dog did NOT die instantly, that he gurgled and bled and thrashed fighting for his life for a very extended period of time.
Officer MacGilivray arrived on the scene at approximately 5:45 P.M. and immediately grabbed Heiniu by the scruff of his neck even when warned not to.
Heiniu died between 6:50 and 7:00 P.M.
“Had lacerations around neck from leash being imbedded into skin.”
Leash? They mean the two WIRE NOOSES from two catch poles – with one officer on each side of Heiniu being tightened around his neck and used to try to lift him into the vehicle.
All while witnesses begged the officers to stop because they realized Heiniu was under extreme distressed — being choked repeatedly.
It’s also important to note York Region police officers on the scene stated there was nothing they could do.
OUTRAGED? PLEASE SPEAK UP!
Go here – see the call to action – fill out the form and send a done for you email to elected officials and others who can bring about change.
WERE YOU A WITNESS?
If you witnessed this incident, have video footage, or relevant information, please come forward.
P.S. MEMBERS OF THE PRESS
Members of the press are reminded there are multiple witnesses willing to go on the record – you are invited to contact us for more details.
Members of the public — YOU can help by sharing our Facebook post found here with your family and friends — AND please share the page you are currently on with members of the press.
TRENDING BLOG POSTS
Leah Long, who has 20 years of experience as an Animal Control officer was at today’s peaceful protest — on the video below speaks out about the death of Heiniu.
READ MORE & WATCH THE 3 MINUTE VIDEO HERE
A routine call about two dogs running loose in East Gwillimbury ended in tragedy this week when a Rottweiler died during an interaction with Aurora Animal Services officers, leaving witnesses traumatized and a grieving family demanding accountability.
READ MORE HERE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON FACEBOOK HERE
61 thoughts on “A FRIENDLY DOG DIED”
I’ve dealt with that lady before she’s horrible
Please speak up about your story she needs to be fired. A dog has died under her care and because of her … she doesn’t have a little bit of remorse.
I can’t believe this woman wasn’t terminated earlier… what a disgusting human being, she should be jailed and kept on a leash… trust in the animal control institution of Aurora is now non-existent.. these people should all be ashamed of themselves, their families and friends should be ashamed of them, all of Toronto is ashamed of this institution and a horde of Canadians demand this woman’s termination. I refuse to call her an officer, officer implies that she took an oath… an oath she made a complete mockery of… terminate her, jail her, leash her, and leave her to rot in prison. i’m not convinced that she is even human!
I agree with you. That poor dog HEINIU endured so much trauma. That poor family. We demand justice for HEINIU and his family
I can not believe that these officers do not know what they are doing and result is this loss of life
I have never seen such abuse by an individual that chose to work in the animal field, you should be charged for animal cruelty, animal abuse and any other charges that are related and be FIRED immediately. Alsi, you should be banned for life to never own or work with any type of animal, not even a earth worm.
I wish I was there, I can promise you I wouldn’t have just yelled for you to stop, please use your imagination.
Deplorable, Disgusting, Inhumane, Evil, Reckless, Inexcusable and the list goes on.
I echo this! There should be more accountability for the deplorable human who caused this harm and suffering to this poor animal and its family.
There should be harsher laws against those who harm and kill animals.
Rottweilers are the sweetest, most loving dogs who are constantly stigmatized as being aggressive. The only aggressive one here is the ‘Officer’. What a disgusting and vile POS.
I’m sorry but there is no excuse for this kind of treatment. The dog was panicking due to snares around his neck. When you put a snare on an animal they can and will panick, all you have to do is loosen the wire so it’s not so tight but still have control of the dog. There is no excuse for this to happen. Over 20 years as an Animal Control officer I have never seen anything like this. I had a 180lb Neopolitan Mastif on the end of a 4ft snare pole picking him up for quarantine for biting the finger off his owner. This dog was on the end out on the end of my pole and I held it like a leash and waited until he hot tired and then walked him into the van. No choking no gasping for breath. Are these Officers not trained on snare poles or how to wrap a dog when putting them in your vehicle if you don’t know about the dogs behaviour? They should be charged with cruelty. I am thoroughly disgusted and horrifying at what I am seeing in those photos Seeing this and hearing about the uneducated Officers that don’t know how to do their jobs properly in handling animals scares me
She’s trained… she just doesn’t care… and she thinks that she can LIE her out of this… she took a life, her own life has zero value, lock her up, throw away the key. termination should be the LEAST of her worries… disgusting and a mockery of what Animal Control stands for… this woman doesn’t deserve mercy just like she said herself when told she is abusing the animal and clearly failing at her job “I don’t give a shit” is what she told witnesses… well, I don’t give a shit about her, she should be eaten alive by dogs.
I don’t see where the dog bit her on the arm! Sounds like BS to me!😡
This is what happens when the animal control officer’s job requirements put bylaw enforcement experience first on the list, while experience with animals is at the bottom and not a must have.
Way to go humans.
My heart is breaking for the family of this lovely dog and for the community who endured the unprofessional and cruel treatment of an innocent animal. May justice be served by the people who have suffered! Absolutely disgusting, time to speak out about this blatant abuse of power by these bullies !
This is absolutely horrifying! They need to be charged with animal cruelty and lose their jobs. This is unacceptable. I am so sorry for the families loss and to the poor family who had to witness this. Heartbreaking.
We want justice now!!! This is disgusting both should be charged and fired and tied up to feel the pain!!!
Rest well, all
Those innocent animals Aurora animal officers murdered
This is very disturbing footage of an animal abuser and should be punished to the full extent. This so called human is disturbing we and needs psychiatric help should not be around animals or children.
Agreed
Jail immediately
Absolutely 💯
The humane society should press charfes
The Humane Society has not been in charge of animal cruelty investigations/charges for 7 years. Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) has been responsible since Jan 2020
PAWS is useless.
It’s not BS. The dog did bite her and the dog also barrel rolled on a catch pole. The dog did it to himself. There nothing this lady could of done without getting more injured. The Dog choked himself out.
You are BS – to use your own language. Right out of the gate, this AC officer approached the dog and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck. – this is not the correct process. Any hope of trust was out the window. She caused this, he just reacted as any animal would act.
Animal control officers should be mandated to at least take a basic course on animal behavior before being allowed to interact with animals.
Are you SERIOUS??? This kind of Behavior is Unacceptable and it seems that you are the only one who has witnessed the Poor dog bite at her if thats to be FACTS i truly Hope that Handsome Boy did fight for his life!! Horrible Humans and they need to be behind Bars and Never be allowed around Animals or Children . This type of Human doesnr deserve to be around any living creature or Human FACTS.
Then release the poles. One incident leads to another
It doesn’t matter if you are bitten or if the dog barrel rolled. As a professional and a community representative it is your absolute duty to ensure something like this doesn’t happen. Unexpected situation? Jump in to quick action; have the other officer hold one pole while you adjust both. Minute adjustments make all the difference. A dog in that amount of distress is not going to maul you, especially if you know what you are doing. Double poling a dog is unbelievably rare. I find it nearly impossible to fathom that one couldn’t hold the pole while the other placed a towel or blanket under the abdomen and lifted the dog that way. Never, ever lift by the pole. Why on earth was the dog taken back out of the vehicle after being placed in? For a picture? What a terrible decision. This is egregious and I am so sad as an ACO of over 20 years. There should be nothing you can’t solve with minimal stress to the animal. Take. Your. Time.
Nooooo. They had the dog in the van safely already when the foolish idiot with no proper training took him out of the van again She’s evil and doesn’t give a shit as quoted
Ive sent the videos to CP24
I understand a protest being held at Aurora Town Hall tomorrow. Ive advised them to show up
This is so heart breaking and horrible. From what I see is a non aggressive dog in the video being comforted. It sounds like animal control showed zero compassion for the dog and handled this disgustingly. The dog must of been terrified by these horrible people treating it so poorly rather then trying to help the dog feel safe! My heart goes out to the dogs owners! This is truly horrible
Dogs’ lives matter. Justice for this poor dog.
How horrifying! Some animal control workers are really on power trips. These people have no right to be working with animals. I hope they are fired and charged with animal cruelty!!
This is absoutly discusting ,lack of control ,compassion ,and the officers involved should be fired and charged under animal cruelty laws ,you women should of left both animals in the truck when they were in there instead of the outcome now ,you murderers should be ashamed of youself ,your job is to protect animals ,not abuse your authority
THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!!! She needs to be held accountable for her disgusting actions and behaviour. UNACCEPTABLE.
Absolutely disgusting case of animal cruelty by those so called animal services officers. They should face the consequences of their actions and maybe investigate past cases they’ve handled because I would not be shocked if they have a past themselves. That poor dog did not deserve to die and that family did not deserve to have their dog taken from them in such a cruel way. I hope they can find some comfort in the community wanting justice for their beautiful dog. And may those officers feel shame every day of their lives. As someone who has a mark on their face from a dog bite, I have zero anger toward dogs as it was my fault I bothered a dog eating. I have grown up with dogs and I would do anything for my dogs. And I’d hurt anyone who tried to hurt them. POS officers and Mayor who put out that ridiculous statement.
Justice for Heiniu, rest in peace sweet boy.
People should be able to trust that animal control of all people is professional enough to handle a loose dog without abusing it or causing death. I sure hope no children witnessed this violent killing. There should be some form of disciplinary action in this case. Using a pole to choke and kill a dog you think is scary is not ok, even less ok for a professional that works with dogs to do.
TWO HOURS of struggling with catch poles on this dog’s neck, by not one but two officers?! Obviously NEITHER were trained in how to properly use these tools effectively! Neither one has any compassion for animals and should not be in this line of work, go hand out parking tickets, they’re not fit for this job. This was NOT AN AGGRESSIVE dog, this was a lost pet, with owners that were looking for him. It broke my heart to read that the owner arrived just a few minutes after this poor dog passed. Horrific. This story has utterly disgusted me. Scares me to EVER have to deal with Aurora animal control.
This is inexcusable!! I have personally secured bigger dogs without an issue and I didn’t have a catch pole, I only had a slip lead.
Absolutely horrible , those two animal control persons need to be held accountable and never work with any animal ever again ! So so sorry to everyone who seen this and to the owners ! That poor baby 🐾😭
The dog bite the officer causing significant damage to their hand, before catch poles were used. This article failed to mention that. For the dog to start bleeding like this, must have had an underlying issue to its health for this to happen.
The officer received a superficial puncture wound on her left forearm that drew very little, if any blood. She continued for an hour after this “significant damage” to choke this dog until he succumbed. Heiniu was hoisted up his neck in a wire noose. We suspect his trachea was ruptured. His body was sent to U of Guelph for a necropsy.
Absolutely not. Struggling and choking can cause burst blood vessels and severely damaged tissues in all of the affected areas which could cause bleeding. Distressed dogs on a pole may also bite the pole causing broken teeth or cut gums and tongue. Even if the ACO was bitten there was no excuse for the poor decisions she made.
The dog bit the officer.
The dog “bit” the officer as a warning to stop hurting him. The “bite” did not draw blood. If a rotti wanted to harm or really bite this person it would not be this small puncture one tooth wound that drew no blood. These are supposed to be trained animal control officers…you do not do this to an animal for over 2 hours.
Charged, fined, and prosecuted to the nth degree.
How did these two bags of dirt get jobs working with animals?
This is absolutely disgusting and 100% preventable. Animal control ‘officer’ have no animal training whatsoever. They are glorified bylaw officers. They have no knowledge of animal behaviour.
I hope the people who had to witness this murder if a friendly/calm dog being tortured and eventually killed, get the help they need to come to terms with what had to endure. PAWS should be notified of this astrocity and these ‘officers’ should be held accountable!
I hope that the media does attend the town of Aurora and cover this!! This should never have happened.
I hope these 2 lose their jobs, get charged with animal cruelty and are banned from owning or being near any type of animal for life!!
This is Absolutely Devastating news. I am a owner of a Rottweiler and this Breed is the Best Dog ever. They are not Aggressive at all!! Unless they are protecting their Owner and I have a friend that knows this Handsome Boy and he is not a Aggressive Dog at all. See you all tomorrow. RIP Beautiful Boy
These animal control workers need to be held accountable, fired and fined! Totally inexcusable.
Holy shit!! This pisses me off to no end 😡. As a rottweiler owner, I cannot even imagine my Lilli going through this. I am going to try to make this protest but am a little worried re people with guns who shouldn’t have them. Wouldn’t a tranquilizer been effective?
😭
This is heartbreaking and inexcusable. Officers should be fired, be criminally charged and never own or interact with an animal again. 2 hours. Are you serious? Are they complete unempathetic, uneducated idiots. What do you think any living creature will do if you choke and restrain by the neck. Two hours and you couldn’t figure out you were killing him, torturing him, scaring him. He was fighting for his life you idiots. You are incompetent and horrifically cruel.
Sickening if I was there they would have gotten knocked out. That is bull crap they both need to be FIRED.
If the mayor does nothing then he should be FIRED TOO, lazy a_ _
This is truly heart wrenching to see. As an animal lover and pet owner myself I can’t image how I would feel
If this was my beloved dog. These 2 should be held accountable for their actions. This dog was struggling for 2 hours
And she killed him for no reason. I don’t see a bite mark on her arm? Hold these 2 accountable for their actions! And for her to say at one point “I don’t give a sh*t!” This so is bull shit! I hope younger what you deserve!
This is absolutely disgusting. They did not need to use such force on this pup.
I have a rottie at home. She is the biggest softie ever. I could never imagine animal control killing an innocent dog, but here it is.
They should be fired, never aloud to work with animals and criminally charged.
I am so so very sorry for the family and my heart goes out to you all. I hope you find some peace in this tragic situation.
What’s worse is the officer in question (who clearly has a reputation in the community) comes into the comments under multiple pseudonyms (or is sending friends/family to do so) to defend inexcusable actions. It’s disgusting. She should take accountability and show remorse. A large part of the public outrage here is the attitude of this individual and the poor response from the town. I hope justice will be served and this woman is never allowed to work with animals again.
Why didn’t they simply photograph Huiwei in the carry crate and remove the crate digitally using AI? This could have been avoided by a 10 second AI edit on their phone.
I am traumatized at the site and thought of what this so called human did to this poor boy. I wish I was there to help him. My heart is completely broken and I pray for justice to be served. Make an example out of this POS.
This is such a terrible outcome and devastating to everyone involved. I personally know one of animal control officer in this incident. She is an animal lover and has dogs of her own. She is devastated too. I think the animal control officers across the country needs further training so this doesn’t happen again.
This is insane and in no way acceptable. Both officers need to be fired, lose their pensions and be sent to jail for many years. They also need every cent stripped from their accounts and given to this poor dog’s owner,
I’d say the Aurora Animal Services Department should be shut down and all staff relieved of duty. Obviously this is an accepted behavior from the department’s management otherwise it would not have occurred. The woman officer would have been removed due to previous behavior. She wasn’t. Replace animal services with a new organization that is properly run and managed with appropriate policies, procedures and training. Officers directly involved should be charged with animal cruelty. They should never again work with animals.