Replies

Somebody on an earlier thread posted the email addresses of the Police Capt, the Mayor, news stations, and the Board of Police. So, I sent my email to all of them. Here's what i wrote:

"I read about the misguided and unfortunate actions the Nashville Police Dept decided to impose against Jarrod Martin for having the audacity to rescue his dog from his burning home. You may spare me the Police Dept’s version that Martin acted unsafely and that the Fire Dept had promised to try to rescue the dog after they’d extinguished the flames.

That’s a lame defense, and I think you’re making a mistake if you think that line sounds reasonable to the rest of the public. If it were my pet trapped in a burning house, or my child, I would not be content to wait calmly till the flames were extinguished. Or are you suggesting, perhaps, that if it were a human trapped inside, you wouldn’t have waited till the fire was extinguished? If that’s true, then you’re saying that rescuing a human is a higher priority for Nashville than rescuing someone’s beloved pet, who, in many cases, is just like a member of the family? If that’s your defense, then it’s not surprising that Mr Martin took it upon himself to take care of his own loved ones, rather than leave it to your dept when it was obviously not a priority for you.

People do all kinds of things when they’re trying to rescue their loved ones: run into burning buildings, exceed the speed limit when racing to the hospital, push others aside to reach trapped loved ones…all kinds of things that are understandable in context. Is that to say I condone speeding? Not usually. But I sure wouldn’t agree with arresting someone who was racing their dying child to the hospital because his speed exceeded the speed limit! Would the Nashville Police arrest a speeder in such a circumstance? Certainly the Nashville Police Dept has priorities for what they consider arrestable offenses? I think you should admit that you were wrong to arrest/charge Mr Martin and reiterate that you don’t advise people to take over the work of the Fire Dept ordinarily, but that you’d overreacted. Please don’t dig yourself a bigger hole by insisting that you were justified in this arrest when the rest of the country thinks the Nashville Police Dept has gone nuts. Not a good public image for Nashville and its tourism. I’ll be looking forward to your retraction."

I'll probably get the same generic reply from their PR officer that a friend got when she wrote to them. It was highly defensive and emphasized they were right, he was wrong. I'll post whatever reply I might get from them.

Well -- I can see their drawing the line at risking lives to rescue pets but when you think this guy went back into the house, watched for THIRTY MINUTES while no one did anything, you have to think the FD made a bad call there. They had plenty of time to rescue the dog. Even once he *did* go in and save the dog, they sucessfully rescued him as well. I think that makes a stronger case in court than the 'dog being a member of the family' approach -- since they are animals and not human, no matter what one feels about them.

Will be looking for your posting of the reply!