Posted on 01/09/2003 7:29:12 AM PST by FlyingA
As family shrieks, police kill dog Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Posted: 10:26 PM EST (0326 GMT)
COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.
The Smoak family was pulled over the evening of January 1 on Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee by officers who mistakenly suspected them of a carjacking. An investigation showed James Smoak had simply left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station, and motorists who saw his money fly off the car as he drove away called police.
The family was driving through eastern Tennessee on their way home from a New Year's trip to Nashville. They told CNN they are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering legal action against the Cookeville, Tennessee, Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for what happened to them and their dog.
In the video, released by the THP, officers are heard ordering the family, one by one, to get out of their car with their hands up. James Smoak and his wife, Pamela, and 17-year-old son Brandon are ordered onto their knees and handcuffed.
"What did I do?" James Smoak asks the officers.
"Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.
Smoak and his wife protest incredulously, telling the officers that they are from South Carolina and that their mother and father-in-law are traveling in another car alongside them.
The Smoaks told CNN that as they knelt, handcuffed, they pleaded with officers to close the doors of their car so their two dogs would not escape, but the officers did not heed them.
Pamela Smoak is seen on the tape looking up at an officer, telling him slowly, "That dog is not mean. He won't hurt you."
Her husband says, "I got a dog in the car. I don't want him to jump out."
The tape then shows the Smoak's medium-size brown dog romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tail wagging. As the family yells, the dog, named Patton, first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family.
An officer in a blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately. For several moments, all that is audible are shrieks as the family reacts to the shooting. James Smoak even stands up, but officers pull him back down.
"Y'all shot my dog! Y'all shot my dog!" James Smoak cries. "Oh my God! God Almighty!" "You shot my dog!" screams his wife, distraught and still handcuffed. "Why'd you kill our dog?" "Jesus, tell me, why did y'all shoot my dog?" James Smoak says.
The officers bring him to the patrol car, and the family calms down, but still they ask the officers for an explanation. One of them says Patton was "going after" the officer.
"No he wasn't, man," James Smoak says. "Y'all didn't have to kill the dog like that."
Brandon told CNN Patton, was playful and gentle -- "like Scooby-Doo" -- and may have simply gone after the beam of the flashlight as he often did at home, when Brandon and the dog would play. The Tennessee Department of Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, has said an investigation is under way.
Cookeville Police Chief Robert Terry released a statement on the department's Web site Wednesday night describing the department's regret over the incident.
"I know the officer wishes that circumstances could have been different so he could have prevented shooting the dog," Terry wrote. "It is never gratifying to have to put an animal down, especially a family pet, and the officer assures me that he never displayed any satisfaction in doing so." Terry said he and the vice-mayor of Cookeville met with the family before they left "to convey our deepest sympathies" for the loss of their dog.
"No one wants to experience this kind of thing, and it's very unfortunate that it occurred," he wrote. "If we had the benefit of hindsight, I'm sure some -- if not all of this -- could have been avoided. I believe the Tennessee Highway Patrol feels the same way."
The department is conducting an investigation to determine what, if anything, could have been done differently, he said. Police also plan to be in contact with the Smoak family, Terry said. The Smoaks buried their pet at home. A white cross marks the grave.
As far as asking permission from the owner, I fully agree and even after getting that, I'd still extend my hand before I extend my face for a smooch. Start with a little tickle under the mouth and casually slide up under the jaw and behind the ears. Works for me everytime. (Of course, I also have a nasty habit of "bicycling" my feet when you scratch my belly too!)
Unfortunately when we teach a child to be "cautious" we sometimes give the unintended impression that they should be afraid. Confidence with caution. Dogs are funny about fear, they will sense it and some will react agressively toward it.
You know, that's EXACTLY what the owner said while I was applying a torniquet to my buddy's leg and calling 911.
Whether or not it hurt him is another story, but you can be 99% sure that the dog was not looking to kill him.
Animal Control didn't care about that--they just looked at the injury inflicted and said that the dog had to be put down.
Absolute and totally no, it is not standard operating procedure to shoot a dog. This is stupid and out of control.
That individual should not be a police officer. Because dogs have a far more capable sense of smell, they are more reactive to mace, pepper spray and fire extinguisher spray. There are numerous ways to stop a dog without killing it. As a fire fighter, I can guarantee you, encountering dogs in emergency situations is very common, and in twenty-three years of dog encounters, I never had to seriously harm one.
The police were also totally negligent in not closing the door to the car, as they put themselves in danger by not taking a simple precaution that would have prevented any injury to them or the dog. Any rookie knows that the best way to secure a dog is to keep it in an enclosed area. These police officers were so incompetent that they were incompetently discharging fire arms BECAUSE they incompetently didn't secure an animal when they should have. It's also not like, "Oh, I forgot." They were warned by individuals to shut the door so the dog wouldn't get out. It was stupid, and not securing the dog SHOULD be a violation of Department Standard Operating Procedures.
http://www.ci.cookeville.tn.us
The page loads slowly, if at all.
Probably getting all kinds of support for the Police Officer from the on-line community. < /sarcasm >
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