Police officer pepper sprays baby squirrel in front of horrified students



A police officer cruelly pepper sprayed a baby squirrel despite traumatised and horrified students who were close by screaming at him to stop.

A video recorded by one of the students that was posted on YouTube has sparked outrage in the city of Mesquite, Texas.



The tiny animal, which is barely the size of the police officer's foot, is seen scurrying around outside, not harming or bothering anyone.

The officer is then seen repeatedly spraying the animal after it apparently began chasing the students of Kimbrough Middle School.

Deadly killer? As the tiny squirrel edges closer and closer to the police officer, he feels the only remedy is to pepper spray it, should it attack any of the students



Students are heard begging the police man, referred to as Officer Davis on the video, to stop with cries of 'No!' and 'Don't spray him!' and 'Please don't do it!'



Mesquite Police Department has defended the officer's actions.

Sgt Wes Talley said the officer stood between a group of students and the animal because he thought it may have been rabid.

He said after several unsuccessful attempts to scare the squirrel away, the officer used his pepper spray on it to protect the welfare of the students.

But Officer Davis' actions were deemed as over the top and unnecessary by parents and students.

One parent questioned why the students weren't simply moved away from the tiny animal.

Two students told Fox 4 in Dallas that a school official had even kicked the squirrel before the officer arrived.



The district denies this.



Animal control officers took the squirrel back to the shelter after the incident.



It was cared for and released back into the wild, Sgt Talley said.



