As family shrieks, police kill dog, Cooksville TN

Email ^ | 1/09/03 | FlyingA

[Super Mak90kid]

This dog story is getting old. It was unfortunate but sure doesn't warrant all the press. What a bunch of whiny Monday morning quaterbacks Americans have become. I am grateful for our police officers and the abuse they suffer. Damned if they do and damned if they don't

You boot licking sicko! What abuse are you refering to? Like all of us 'peasents', cops should have to answer for any damage they cause. These cops should be brought up on several criminal charges.

[hoosierham]

change your screen name to with a brain AND not using it...
What we DON"T need is trigger-happy pet (private property) destroying cops.

[Republic of Texas]

I'm sure the bewildered dog understood exactly what was going on, so really it was the DOG'S fault for getting out of the car and trotting torwards the officer.

[gundog]

...but if you shot a cop dog, K-9, you would be prosecuted for killing a cop.

Never heard of that one being successfully prosecuted; if I'm mauled by a K-9 can I sue for police brutality? They don't understand "OK, I give up."

[gundog]

The worst you can get (to the best of my knowledge) is discharging a firearm in city limits,

" I swear, officer...right after he shot my dog, he pointed that gun at me..." Read that as assault with a deadly weapon...whether you did it, or not.:)

[gundog]

...With any potentially dangerous dog, you have to look them in they eye first...

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

[gundog]

And I'll kill anybody who tries to harm my dog.

I wondered what happened to Inspector Harry Callahan. :)

[matthew_the_brain]

They can still have claims for all of those, irrespective of the 'property' that was destroyed. That cop deserves a medal, if a bull dog type breed ran at me in that manner, I would have killed it too.

[johnny7]

Cops had no fear here. Must have been a slow day.

Most police just look for speeders and stay out of harms way.

This cop wanted to try out his shotgun.

With a good lawyer, the Smoaks can take that town for every penny it has... and I hope they do!

[dtel]

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

I disagree with you, by avoiding eye contact you tell the animal he is boss.
If you expect to be boss, the quickest way to establish this fact is through eye contact. Never back down from any animal. Period.

[dtel]

That cop deserves a medal, if a bull dog type breed ran at me in that manner, I would have killed it too.

Tough man aren't ya?
What if was a Golden Retriever tough guy, do you blow it away too?
Do you harbor a special fear of bull dogs or are you terrified of all dogs larger than a Chihuahua?

[Manic Panic]

As I have found out,a 13 yr. old kid can kill your dog,break into your house,pretty well do anything illegal he wants and get completely away with it.
As to the coffee table remark,you don't get your coffee table as a puppy ,feed it, paper train it, and generally get attached to it just to see someone shoot it in front of your eyes and expect you to take it calmly.It isn't a question of whether the dog did something to deserve being shot.It is the moment.Once life is lost, being sorry or a paid vacation isn't going to bring back the dog,or erase the memory of the un-thinkable act.Neither is exonerating the officer in question by an "internal" investigation that will certainly find him innocent.As private citizens we are accountable for our mistakes.I think that the cops and the cellphone caller should be held accountable for this,however un-intended, terroristic and horrific act.

[gundog]

Original post stipulated a "potentially dangerous dog"...I've had better luck avoiding eye contact and easing out of doggie's territory. As I said, you can "tell" an animal who is boss...not all of them will take your word for it; some insist that you earn dominance, and that can be a real bitch.

[dtel]

All dogs are "potentially dangerous", hell anything with teeth and claws is "potentially dangerous".
Get a stick, stand your ground. Be a meaner dog than they are, works every freakin' time.

[Chemnitz]

If we isolate the issue of an officer shooting a dog coming at him, I agree. However, this situation was created by the police force. The dispatcher created a hyped up situation. The officers could easily have stopped the car, approached it with caution, and asked the occupants what they were doing, how the money flew out of the car. I believe everyone would have had a laugh over a wallet on the roof leading to a bank robbery report.

Once my wife said the people at the motel were acting really weird. The cleaning women were on break and holding pop cans on their heads. She said, "Look at them. They are laughing and putting cans over their heads." I said, "Did you leave your Coke on the roof of the car?" She said, "Oh."

I am not a lawyer but I do not see any excuse for the police treating the family they way they did. As we saw before with the DC snipers, it is possible to rough up people and arrest the wrong people based on misleading facts. The police decided it was a white van so everyone in a white van was guilty.

By the way, I am on the side of police enforcement. I would never want to be one. However, they should know their limits.

[Alpha One]

Doggie faux pas Number 1...direct eye contact will be percieved as a claim to dominance...some dogs will make you prove it.

I always make sure I speak reassuringly to the dog at the same time. It's always worked for me, and I've been able to approach dogs that most people would rather not be near.

[Slainte]

I said, "Did you leave your Coke on the roof of the car?"

Thank goodness you didn't have the 911 caller in this case anywhere near you. Can you imagine the reaction of the TN Highway Patrol and the Cookeville Police if the caller had reported COKE flying all over the road?

[Consort]

The dog was murdered. The family was traumatized. The police over-reacted. The family did not fit a hostile profile. The family will never completely get over this and the police shouldn't either. The story is being posted over and over because it touches something inside of us. The police were wrong.

[Chemnitz]

No kidding.

Leaving something on the roof is a common problem. I tried a McDonald's Shamrock shake and put it on the roof of the car. I realized my mistake when I saw it in the rear view mirror, hitting the road. My friend left his appointment book on the roof of his car. He never found it.

[Darksheare]

You still haven't answered the question: WHERE do you get that the vacationing family are THUGGISH?

Where in that pea sized brain of yours do you get that?
AND WHAT IS YOUR SUPPORTING EVIDENCE?
Lacking that, you are an ignorant inflammatory moron who is here only to get people angry at you. Go elsewhere, troll.