City councillor accused of kicking puppy, threatening women

An Oldenzaal mother is accusing city councilor Piet Mol of kicking her puppy and threatening her and her daughter on Het Hulsbeek on Tuesday. Mol responded that he did not threaten anyone, but did say that he would kick the puppy to death, Tubantia reports. The woman in question, Melanie Nijhof-Lansink, posted her story on Facebook. She and her eight year old daughter were walking their six month old puppy Lola at Het Hulsbeek, a leash-free dog walking area. Mol jogged past and Lola ran after him, tail wagging. "He tried to kick our puppy. When I told him to stop that, he came at us menacingly, with clenched fists. He shouted at us: 'This is not the first time I'll kick a dog to death'", Lansink wrote on Facebook. The post was shared 980 times before it was removed. Mol's party, the Werknemers Groepering Oldenzaal, suspended him with immediate effect. His position as city councilor remains unaffected. On Wednesday Mol decided to tell his side of the story to Tubantia. "I don't know if charges are being pressed, I also don't know against what because I did not do anything illegal", he said to the newspaper. Mol was jogging to the gym on Tuesday. "The dog was growling behind me and I was scared. It may be that I responded fiercely, perhaps even intimidating, yes. But I did not threaten anyone", he said to the newspaper. "But for my fierce and intimidating remarks I want to apologize. Incidentally, I did not see the dog as a puppy, I thought he was pretty big." He does not deny saying he would kick the dog to death, though he regrets doing so. The councilor met with Melanie and her husband on Wednesday. "it was not a pleasant conversation."