ohmidog!

Prince Edward was caught on video raising has stick at his dogs during a pheasant shoot, and now he’s taking some heat from animal welfare groups.

The video shows him walking up to two black Labradors with his shotgun tucked under his arm and his four-foot long stick raised in the air. He then brought down the stick – a shepherd’s crook – in the direction of one of the dogs, but it is not known if he made contact.

He is then seen chasing one of the dogs and taking another swing in its direction.

The Labradors were trying to grab hold of the same dead bird on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, the Telegraph reports.

Buckingham Palace said that Prince Edward, 44, the Earl of Wessex, had stepped in when two gun dogs were fighting over a pheasant in an attempt to separate them.  “I don’t know if he physically struck them,” a spokeswoman said. “But both dogs are fine – no harm was done to them.”

Andrew Tyler, the director of Animal Aid, said: “We can’t be certain that Edward’s stick did make contact with the dog although he certainly appears to have acted impulsively without restraint. But we can’t expect etiquette and high manners in the context of a sport that is about killing animals for pleasure.”