NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. — A Northbridge man is grieving after the town's animal control officer mistook his dog for a coyote and shot and killed him. 

Kirk Rumford says his 11-month-old Husky, Odin, had a tendency of getting out of the house, but never caused anyone harm.

Northbridge Police said they received two calls about a coyote sighting Tuesday. 

The animal control officer went to one of the homes and found the dog.  

The town's police chief said the animal approached the officer and after it wouldn't stop, he fired, thinking it was a coyote. 

"When this happened, he immediately came to me,” said Chief Timothy Labrie. “We conducted an investigation, spoke to the calling party and then we're able to identify the owner of the dog by going to a neighborhood in which we had received complaints about a dog being loose quite often and where we had prior coyote sightings."

"My dog is the biggest lovebug, knucklehead, clutz and just loves to play,” said Rumford. “I’ve never seen his teeth. We go to dog parks all the time, he plays with every dog there, every person. They’re like, 'oh, he's such a good dog.' All my friends are like, 'he doesn't have a mean bone in his body.'"

Labrie said he supports his animal control officer who has worked for the department for more than 20 years. 

He is not facing any punishment, and they believe it was a tragic accident

The police have also offered to pay for Odin’s cremation. 

Rumford said he's hopeful something like this never happens again.