[pyrnet] Dog Shot in Traffic Stop in TN

["Barb Bowes" <bamb@monmouth.com>]

As many of you may have already seen on the National News, a family pet was
shot and killed when a car was pulled over by Police in TN. Although I do
not think that the Officer was right in what he did, I can understand how
this may have happened. The story is below my signature line and I have
included a link to the video of the incident. The video was aired this
moring on the Today Show and I have emailed the Today Show with the
suggestion that they do a piece on seat belt restraints for pets (and
crates). Perhaps the horrible loss of the family pet (Patton) will be able
to save another pet's life. To email the Today Show today@nbc.com

Barb Bowes
Bo & Chelsea (Pyrs)
& Flopsy (Pyrenean Shepherd)
"The more people I meet, the more I like my dog!"
bamb@monmouth.com

<< Actual Link to CNN Website:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/09/police.kill.dog/index.html


A controversial video shows police shooting at a dog that jumps from
a car at a traffic stop at Cookeville, Tennessee (January 8)
Affiliate WHNS has the story of the Smoak family whose dog was shot
by police officers in Tennessee during a mistaken stop. (January 8)


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 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 highway patrol, 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 near 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 Smoaks' 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 that 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 underway.

'Could have been avoided'
Cookeville Police Chief Robert Terry released a statement on the
department's Web site Wednesday night describing the department's
regret over the incident. The Cookeville Police Department site was
not responding Thursday morning.

"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. >>

Link to video of the incident

http://www.whns.com/Global/story.asp?S=1078183