NY police investigate if man was grilling coyote or dog

ROME, N.Y. - Police in upstate New York are investigating whether a man was cooking a dog or a coyote on a grill outside a home.

Officers responded to a complaint of animal cruelty about 4 p.m. on Jan. 13 and found a man cooking a canine on a makeshift grill outside the home, the Rome police department said.

The man cooperated with police, telling them the canine was a coyote, the police said. An animal control officer took the animal to Cornell University for testing to try to determine its species.

The man could be charged depending on the results of those tests, the police said.

Hunting or trapping coyotes is legal in New York state with a license, the state's Department of Environmental Conservation said on its website.

Rome's animal control researched reports of missing dogs in the past year and said none matched the size and weight of the animal. Rome is located about 45 miles east of Syracuse, New York.

With the Associated Press