ANIMAL rights campaigners have urged the police officers who bludgeoned a deer to death with crowbars to be compassionate in the future.

PCs Andrew Pittilla and Brian Clewlow, of Durham Police, were found guilty of gross misconduct this week.

The pair were stripped of their firearms duties and given a final warning after they ignored protocol and repeatedly struck an injured deer with a crowbar in Tanfield Lea, County Durham.

While they had acted appropriately and “sympathetically” when treating the same deer two days previously, the disciplinary hearing found the long serving officers had not complied with protocol.

The incident was exposed to the public when a whistleblower contacted The Northern Echo.

Following the initial report, animal rights charity PETA UK called for the police officers to be struck off and locked up if it turned out that they had beaten the deer to death.

After hearing that the officers had kept their jobs, the charity’s director Mimi Bekhechi said: “Durham Police has given the officers – who had previously assisted the deer they later killed – a second chance.

“If it is believed, as they say, that they were acting out of kindness, their future treatment of animals will prove the decision right or wrong.

“PETA certainly hopes they will show great compassion to all living beings – if not, a terrible mistake will have been made in keeping them on the force.”

A spokesman for the RSPCA added: “We hope all organisations that deal with injured animals carry out their work in a responsible manner that prioritises the welfare of those animals.

“Animals that do have to be put to sleep should be done so in a humane and appropriate manner."