On October 16th, the Oak Bay Police received a call of a cougar sighting by a young girl on Central Ave near Monterey Ave, and a photo that had allegedly been taken of it lying in the grass. The photo was sent to the Conservation Officers who confirmed it was a photo of a cougar. A number of police resources, including Conservation Officers were deployed to the area to search for the cougar.
Information was received over the weekend that led police to look into the claim that the young girl had made about seeing a cougar. It was discovered that she had in fact made up the story and the photo was one that she had seen on the internet regarding a cougar that had been shot and killed in Edmonton last year. The girl had cropped and saved the photo to her cell phone.
She has been interviewed with her parents by police and is very remorseful and sorry for making up this story. It was explained to her that it’s a very serious matter and could be construed as a criminal offence of Public Mischief which is making a false report to police.
The matter is now concluded and as a result of this information the police would like to reassure the public that this report of a cougar wandering around the neighborhood was false.
