Cohen plans hearings on dog shooting
By Richard Locker
locker@gomemphis.com
January 15, 2003
NASHVILLE - A Memphis legislator plans hearings on the fatal shooting of a North Carolina family's pet dog by a Cookeville police officer during a Jan. 1 stop on Interstate 40 at Cookeville.
Democratic state Sen. Steve Cohen, who has successfully sponsored laws against cruelty to animals, got approval Tuesday to assemble a fact-finding committee to examine the shooting.
The dog's death has sparked an international outcry against the state and an apology by Gov. Don Sundquist to the dog's owners.
The fallout from the shooting has been dramatic.
"We're getting calls from TV networks, national magazines, tabloids, syndicated programs, law enforcement publications,'' said state Department of Safety spokesman Beth Tucker Womack.
"We've gotten, I'd estimate in our department, about 2,000 E-mails and the letters are starting to come in now,'' she said. "We've gotten several phone calls and I know the governor's office has gotten lots of calls.''
Charles Womack, the mayor of Cookeville, a town of roughly 27,000 in Putnam County, has an unpublished phone number and could not be reached for comment Tuesday. City Manager Jim Shipley did not immediately return a reporter's calls.
Cohen said the hearings, which start Friday, could lead to legislation to require law enforcement officers to be trained in dealing with pets and other animals in the course of their work.
The story unfolded on New Year's Day when James Smoak, his wife, Pamela, their teenage son and family dog Patton were returning home to Saluda, N.C., after a holiday visit to Nashville.
Smoak had left his wallet on top of his car after a gasoline stop just east of Nashville. Back on I-40, the wallet flew off, causing another motorist with a cellular phone to report to the state Highway Patrol that a speeding car had passed her, scattering currency.
An internal investigation contains conflicting reports on what happened next, but Highway Patrol officials were concerned that a robbery had occurred.
State troopers spotted the Smoaks' station wagon on I-40 near Cookeville, made a "felony stop," and with guns drawn, ordered the family out of their car and handcuffed them.
Cookeville police joined the stop to back up the troopers. Videotapes show the handcuffed and kneeling Smoaks pleading with the officers to close the car door so their dog wouldn't escape, but Patton jumped out and ran - with tail wagging - toward a Cookeville officer, Eric Hall, whose shotgun blast killed the dog. The officer said he thought the dog was attacking him.
Authorities soon discovered that no robbery had occurred and that the family was innocent of any crime.
The internal investigation concluded that although the mistake was unfortunate, the officers did not act illegally based on what they knew at the time.
But Cohen said Tuesday that he wants to look into what happened in more depth and examine the training policies and procedures of law enforcement agencies regarding pets and animals.
"In this situation, it just seems like common sense was absent as well as common decency,'' Cohen said. "Common sense would have said you shut the door on the car, simply so the dog wouldn't get out into traffic and cause a traffic accident and possibly somebody's loss of life. That was just as likely to happen as what did happen.''
Cohen said he has asked Highway Patrol and Cookeville police officials to appear at the hearings and has invited the Smoak family but is unsure whether they will be able to attend Friday.
Contact Nashville Bureau chief Richard Locker at (615) 255-4923.