A North Country community is reacting after a dog was shot by State Troopers in the town of Plattsburgh.

According to State Police, the shooting followed protocol. But not everyone is happy with how it happened.

It started with a report of a dangerous dog. A witness reported the dog was aggressive, barking for hours, and they didn't know who the owner was. When troopers called the SPCA, they were told the manager was not able to get to the scene until several hours later. The dog control officer was also unavailable.

State police said a trooper reached out to the town supervisor, and putting the dog down was the only option. However, the manager at the SPCA says shooting the dog shouldn't have been an option.

"We wanted to avoid a very serious if not potentially fatal situation for anybody in the neighborhood,” said Public Information Officer Jennifer Fleishman. "I do disagree with shooting a dog,” said Elmore SPCA Manager Rebecca Burdo. “There were definitely other avenues that could have been taken. Less convenient, more time consuming avenues."

SPCA officials say this incident could have been avoided if the dog was properly licensed and if Law enforcement had better training handling animals.

A petition to remove the town of Plattsburgh Dog Control Officer has been created.