The Free View-- weblog of a presidential candidate: More on the Smoaks and General Patton

January 11, 2003

More on the Smoaks and General Patton

Thankfully, the story of the Smoaks is gaining national attention. (They're the folks whose dog was killed in a totally FUBAR highway stop a few days ago.) The video from the police cruiser was released a couple days ago, and it looks like it's becoming a full-blown Major Story. I couldn't be more glad (well, under the circumstances at least).

I haven't seen the video yet -- I get a "bad address" error when I try to pull it up from CNN's page -- but word is that the average viewer wouldn't think the dog's killing was at all justified, and the Smoak's version of the story was accurate. Nothing seems to support the officer's claim that the dog was growling or acting aggressively. And the dog was only out of the car for three seconds before he was shot.

Anyway, you can read all about it at this site, which has about 6 related stories linked at the bottom. To get an idea of the public reaction, check out the discussion page that springs from the story. It has over 2300 comments posted on it in the past two days. Why, even my post here on the subject from a few days ago had two comments posted to it-- which is one more than any other post so far.

Check out CNN's page, which has two video clips on it (that I can't see).

Here's a page with the Smoaks contact info, and some other bits from the local North Carolina Fox affiliate. That site also has a story about how people are planning a memorial service for Patton at the mile marker where he was killed.

The Smoaks are pursuing legal action against both of the police agencies. I think I might send them some money to help them out in that regard, if it could help.

Hopefully all this outcry will result in more sense and restraint in police treatment of innocent dogs, along the lines of what I was saying the other day.

It's kind of a shame that without the video footage, this story wouldn't have gotten nearly as huge. But I guess the flipside is that videotaping on cruisers is becoming more and more common, and it did catch this one. Otherwise, Officer Hall's version of the event, which sounds like it's not entirely accurate...

"Suddenly, a dog, I believe to be a pit-bull, jumped from the suspect vehicle, singled me out from the other officers, and charged toward me growling in an aggressive manner.

"I yelled at the dog to 'get back' but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no other option but to protect myself.

...would probably have predominated.

Supplement: If I sound kinda unemotional and dry when talking about this, it's just because I'm intentionally not allowing my full, visceral feelings about this to brew up. If I start to think -- even for just a second or two -- about how the owners must have felt in that situation, or how horribly sad it is that that dog was murdered just for being curious, my heart rate and adrenaline levels start to rise. I was finally able to catch some of the police video, off of this page, though it was mixed in with a bunch of other newsbits from the story, and they intentioanlly covered up the shooting itself. For me, the smoking gun is General Patton's tail, just as he's running to his doom. Ever seen a pissed-off dog running with his tail sticking up in a big happy swoop? I highly doubt it.

It makes me nervous about taking my pets with me in the motorhome once I go on tour. With any luck, the Smoaks will accomplish their goal of this never happening to anyone else.

I'll repeat what I said the other day:

Tranquilizers. Stun guns. A big slab of steak. There are other ways to stop a dog.

Posted by Lance Brown at January 11, 2003 11:58 PM | TrackBack

Comments

I just saw the video of this incident on the news last night. Prior to viewing the tape I supposed this to be a very unfortunate incident. A pet can be expected to come to the defense of its family. Though this is normal behavior for the animal, it is also normal behavior for a law enforcement officer to defend himself against such behavior.

But the dog in the video was obviously NOT behaving in an aggressive manner. He was loping toward the officers with his tale wagging.

One can only assume, since over half of all American households include dogs, that Officer Hall has had enough contact with dogs to be able to recognize the difference between friendly and aggressive behavior. It would seem, however, that he either did not know or did not care that a dog who lopes along with his tail wagging is friendly and non-threatening.

This man obviously does not possess the judgment needed to be allowed to carry a gun in the course of his job. Shooting this dog was cowardly and unwarranted.

I think anyone who ever travels anywhere near Cookeville should fear for the safety of himself, his family and his pets so long as this man remains an armed member of the police force. Even though I live within easy driving distance of Cookeville, it has been a long time since I have been through the town. And you can bet that, unless this man is dismissed and barred from ever working in Cookeville law enforcement again, I will not ever be going back there.

I am sure my opinion does not count for much with the Tennessee authorities, but I hope that everyone who saw what I saw will speak up so that this man can never again slaughter someone’s beloved pet. Next time it just might be worse; someone’s son or daughter might be the one threatening this coward.

Posted by: Celia at January 12, 2003 05:01 AM