A small dog was struck and killed by an HSR bus on the roadway in front of a number of demonstrators at city hall on Saturday.

Hamilton police say the dog had nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ protesters in front of city hall.

"Someone was just walking their dog and it got away," said Staff Sgt. Oliver Mann.

Witnesses said the dog, still dragging its leash, ran onto Main Street from across the street from city hall, after getting loose from its owner at about 2 p.m., witnesses said.

Mitchel O'Leary said he was walking through the tunnel at Summers Lane beside the convention centre when a small white dog darted past him and into the intersection with Main Street East. The owner was running behind, trying to catch up, he said.

"The protesters (in support of the LGBTQ+ community) were all yelling 'oh no' and were freaking out, because they saw the bus was about to run it over."

O'Leary said the front corner of the bus then hit the dog in the head.

"Everything happened so quickly."

Protester Jerry Douglas said that "all of a sudden, I heard a lady ... yelling 'stop, stop,' trying to get the bus driver's attention. And he just kept coming hard."

He said the woman had tried to catch the dog on the road, but had to dive onto the sidewalk again "or she would have been taken out too."

Douglas also said the dog came running into the intersection from across the road, opposite to where the protesters were.

The crowd had been dispersing by that time, and there were about eight of them left, he said.

cfragomeni@thespec.com

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