A DOG owner has been left devastated after police shot dead her two pets when they escaped and wandered into a busy road.
Ashley Price paid tribute to her "sweet babies" after her pooches were horrifically killed on the side of a highway in Idaho, US, by cops.
Her beloved dogs, Luna and Boomer, had brought traffic to a standstill on Interstate 84 in Heyburn on Monday.
The pooches had fled from her fenced-in back garden while Ashley was out of town and were being cared for by one of her relatives.
The pair, a Great Pyrenees and a Weimaraner, then fatefully strolled onto the bustling road, forcing motorists to dodge them while traffic came to a halt.
Police had initially been called to the scene to assess the congestion, while drivers were risking their own lives as they tried to grab the dogs.
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But as their attempts proved unsuccessful, cops arrived to find the two large animals on the loose.
The officers tried to corral them out of the busy lanes – where drivers reach speeds of up to 80mph – with whistles and shouts, but to no avail.
"Recognizing traffic was heavy for Memorial Day, and in fear for the motoring public with great potential of rear-end collisions at 80 mph, the officers made the decision to shoot the dogs at 6:03 p.m," the force said in an explanation.
"Each dog was shot once and removed from the roadway," the news release stated.
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Footage of the distressing incident that unfolded in front of horrified motorists was shared on Facebook by Stephanie Carsner.
The chilling clip shows the moment one of the dogs slumps over on the side of the road after being fatally shot by a police officer.
Describing the pups as "non-aggressive", Stephanie claimed she had desperately tried to capture them both, prompting cops to ask if she was their owner.
She wrote in a post: "(He) told me I should be at home, then told me he was going to shoot them.
"I screamed no he isn't because I'm there as a rescue and myself and DOZENS of others almost had the dogs in hand."
The video has since sparked outrage on social media as animal lovers slammed the police's handling of the incident.
The owner of the tragic dogs has now broken her silence on the death of her "fur babies" in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
Ashley thanked the brave bystanders who had attempted to rescue the dogs from the dangerous road.
She wrote: "We are also VERY relieved no further accident happened as a result of them being in the road.
"We just want to make a few things clear. We were out of town and our fur babies were being taken care of by relatives.
"We love them and they were very well taken care of.
"We live in the country and we have a fenced-in backyard and a large fenced-in dog run they spend every day playing in."
She explained she had checked on her pooches at around 5pm via a surveillance camera and both were still safely in their kennel.
Ashley said they then escaped and had reached a neighbour's house 35 minutes later, before Heyburn Police were then called at 5.50pm.
The owner continued: "Our babies were shot and killed by 6:03pm.
"These are the only facts we have at this time and have been in communication with the Police chief and will go in tomorrow to view their videos from dash and body cameras."
She urged anyone with any further footage of the incident to get in touch.
Police referred to the publication of Stephanie's video in the news release, saying it highlighted the dangers of stopping on a freeway.
Officials said the incident remains under investigation while adding they were aware the clip was tough to watch.
"These circumstances are not easy for first responders or the public," they added.
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But Stephanie hit back at cops, saying she questions the information put out by the force and called for the officers to be fired.
She demanded "justice for these fur babies" and said an army of outraged locals intend to take their concerns to an upcoming city council meeting after claiming Mayor Dick Gilbraith has ignored their calls.
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