Auckland Airport has all but invoked the fury of the entire world after shooting dead a security sniffer dog after it escaped from its lead and grounded flights.

Authorities confirmed that Grizz the dog could not be retrieved after he ran off in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The incident reportedly grounded 16 flights and caused delays for several hours at the New Zealand airport.

Grizz, a trainee, was only ten-months-old.

A spokesperson from the government’s Aviation Security Service (Avsec) - the body that runs the airport - described to media outlets how the decision to shoot was made.

He explained that, at around 04:30 local time, Grizz was getting into vehicle parked in the airport’s public landside area when “something” caused him to escape. He managed to run out onto the tarmac after the gate was opened to let a truck through.

A “massive effort” was underway to find the dog in the dark. After hours, he still could not be found, but when he was, he would not let any of the staff come near him.

According to BBC News, the spokesman, Mike Richards, added: “We tried everything: food, toys, other dogs, but nothing would work.”

“We exhausted every option available and could not catch it,” added an airport spokesperson.

The airport’s Facebook page has been inundated every one minute with comments from angry dog lovers from across New Zealand and the globe.

Glasgow Times:

A local animal rights organisation was quick to label the shooting as “needless.”

A spokesman for the group told the New Zealand Herald he and his colleagues were “appalled.”

He said: “A tranquilliser gun should have been used after efforts to catch the dog failed.

“If such a gun was not available - which it should - then they could have borrowed one from Auckland Zoo or elsewhere.

“We hope lessons will be learned from this and that better systems will be put in place to avoid such unnecessary killing in the future.”