Amy Cooper got her dog back after vets determined he was in good health and police declined to take him into their custody
- Amy Cooper, who called police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park, temporarily surrendered her dog to a rescue group after video showed her holding him by his collar.
- On Wednesday, Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Inc. announced they will return the dog after he was found to be in good health and police declined to examine him.
- Cooper became infamous over Memorial Day weekend when she retaliated against a bird watcher who asked her to leash her dog by telling police she was being threatened by a black man.
Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Inc, has returned Amy Cooper's dog after vets found the dog to have been in good health.
Cooper surrendered the dog, Henry, to the group after a video of her calling police on a black bird watcher, Christian Cooper, went viral. Christian Cooper said that he had simply asked Amy, who he's not related to, to put her dog on a leash while walking in that part of the park.
In response, she told him she'd call the police telling them "there's an African-American man threatening my life" and then made that call as Christian Cooper filmed the confrontation.
The video of the incident spread across the internet, whipping up fury at Cooper's apparently callous attitude toward a black man's life. It also drew the ire of animal lovers who were concerned about Cooper's treatment of her dog, who she was seen on video holding in the air by his collar.
"The dog was promptly evaluated by our veterinarian, who found that he was in good health. We have coordinated with the appropriate New York City law enforcement agencies, which have declined to examine the dog or take it into their custody," Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue wrote on Facebook. "Accordingly, and consistent with input received from law enforcement, we have now complied with the owner's request for return of the dog."
Temporarily losing her dog was just one of the consequences of Amy Cooper's actions. She was also fired from her job at the global investment firm Franklin Templeton and subjected to death threats.
The New York Police Department and the Manhattan District Attorney also said last week that they were in talks of potential charges Amy Cooper could face for reporting Christian Cooper to the police.
Amy Cooper has issued multiple apologies to Christian Cooper.
"I think her apology is sincere," Christian Cooper told CNN last week. "I'm not sure that in that apology she recognizes that while she may not be or consider herself a racist, that particular act was definitely racist."
He said Amy Cooper had "a moment of spectacularly poor judgment."
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