Appalled and Horrified

L

lorax

Cathlete
Did any of you see the news story and video of the TN cop shooting the Smoak family's dog? I am so angry I can barely see straight! For those of you who haven't seen it you can check out ABC news/Good Morning America's website and read it. The family got pulled over because Mr. Smoak accidentally left his wallet on the roof of his car after getting gas and as drove on the interstate money was flying out of his wallet. Another motorist saw money flying about and called the cops who responded under the assumption the Smoak's had committed a robbery. They made the family get out of the car (Mr., Mrs and 17 yr old son) and handcuffed them. Mr. Smoak TOLD the cops the dog was in the car and to please close the car doors (afraid he would get out and get hit by a car on the interstate). When the dog, 1 1/2 yr old Patton, did get out of the car he was barking but he was not acting the least bit threatening and was even wagging his tail. And that @#%&*@ SOB just turned and blew him away. Pattonw asn't even that close to the officer. You can hear Mr. Smoak on the video crying and saying "I can't believe you shot my dog". It was heartbreaking. If the officer was truly threatened why didn't he just hit the dog with the butt end of the shotgun? I am so fuming!!! Someone that trigger happy should not be allowed to carry a weapon.

Sorry to vent but I love animals and this poor dog was just trying to find out what was going on with his family as any dog would.

Lorrie
 
That is horrible! I didn't see it though but I would still be crying if I did.My dog is awesome.My daughter had her guinea pig on the couch just now and my dog came up and licked it and just sat and stared.He is a cross between and germen shepperd and dobermen.He as the best temperment.But no doubt, if he got out of a car and started barking he diffently would of gotten shot.He looks like a savage but he thinks he is a cat.
Lori
 
Reading this post has me all upset. If that had been my dog , i would be either be in jail or in a mental hospital. I am glad i missed that story, and am so sorry and sad for that family. What a wuss and a bully to kill that innocent animal. If it weren't for my dogs and cats .. i would surely be empty and lifeless

Candy
 
That's terrible! It reminds me of another horrible incident I saw on the news about a year ago about some some guy who had major road rage and grabbed a woman's dog out of her lap and threw the dog into the highway where it was immediately hit by a car. Anyone who would willingly hurt an animal is downright evil IMHO because it's the same as hurting a little baby because an animal is totally innocent. They just do what their instincts tell them to do.
 
I saw this story too, and am still scared and horrified by it.

In my opinion, it's reflective of the disposable attitude a lot of people in our culture have towards animals.

I have two dogs and they are so special! I try to protect them from the big bad world where nobody cares about a poor dog's life.
 
I saw this story too. Not only did it make me angry that they shot the family dog for no reason, but they handcuffed this whole family like criminals. Don't you think they could have figured out after the mom and son got out, they had the wrong people or at least something wasn't right. I could not believe the whole thing. I was furious. I honestly hope that family sues for everything they can get. Can you imagine the trauma that kid could go through seeing his pet shot down? That dog was wagging his tail wanting to play. To me, it was a case of overzealous, "I'm God" mentality of those cops. They should lose their jobs.


Sharon
 
I hope the policeman gets fired and the family sues. Talk about animal abuse, geez. I guess the cop had to show what a BIG MAN he was because he could kill something innocent with his gun. I've three dogs (goldens!) and I can't imagine seeing that happen to one of my babies. It reminds me of that jerk who threw Leo (the Bichon) onto a California highway because the jerk was mad about Leo's owner's driving skills. People who abuse animals are boderline sociopaths, in my opinion.
 
No, I didn't see that story, and it just breaks my heart. I do hope someone realizes this officer is unstable and should not be allowed to carry a weapon.
 
No, fortunately I didn't see that story, because I will not tolerate animal abuse or cruelty, or people acting like animals are just disposable, replacable "things". Nothing will bring the dog back, but I hope the officer gets some type of punishement. Unfortunately, crimes against animals are not considered very serious. I can't even think of what the appropriate punshment would be, beyond giving the family a bunch of money. Maybe MR officer needs to be sentenced to some type of community service where he will work with animals and maybe learn to see them in a different way.
 
I also saw this and was horrified. That police officer had no right to do this. When my husband and I watched this we were in disbelief. The dog was barking yes but not aggressive. That officer was so wrong.
 
As an animal lover and person lucky enough to have two wonderful furry canine family members, I'm appalled and sickened by this.

While I realize that the job of a police officer is quite difficult, the trigger-happy cops here in Florida have cruelly and unnecessarily shot several non-agressive family pets over the past several months. Every time, it has been a matter of them needing to cut through someone's private and fenced property, then shooting the dogs when they bark. We were just lucky that we were able to grab our pups before they went out the pet door to their fenced back yard several years back--as two county sheriff's deputies came blasting through with flashlights, looking for someone they thought might have run through the neighborhood.

Cops shouldn't be allowed to shoot any pet unless the animal actually charges them. Barking isn't threatening behavior. If these people have such an itchy trigger finger, they are a danger to the community.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-11-03 AT 03:34PM (Est)[/font][p]My blood boils everything I think about this story.

The statement released by the police dept. shows how ignorant they are. I can't imagine someone shooting one of my "babies" with a shotgun. This was so senseless and stupid. Why didn't they just close the door? What was the big deal? "I'm a big bad cop and I don't have to listen to you"?

Wouldn't common sense dictate that a Mom, Dad, son & dog probably aren't a pack of carjackers? Think of the logistics involved in a carjacking. Give me a break!

I hope that the family sues the pants off of that town (not that the $$ could ever replace the dog) and that the cop gets a lengthy suspension without pay and a lame desk job.
 
What an awaful story! They would have had to shoot me because I would have been doing a lot worse than barking if anyone harmed any of my five hounds. Dogs bark to communicate all kinds of things, none of them are threats. Dogs don't operate like that. Only a dog that has been trained to attack would do so, and he wouldn't stand around barking about it first. It makes you wonder what kind of training cops get with regard to animals. Maybe if anything good can come out of this, some type of education will be instituted in police training. It's ironic, because cops who work WITH dogs are some of the biggest dog-lovers there are.

--Ann
 
I just wanted to let everyone know that the entire state of Tennessee is appalled by what happened in Cookville. I live in Nashville and can't believe that this has happened so close to home. I also have 2 dogs (Keeshond and Doberman) and can't imagine somebody shooting them. Especially a State Trooper who is supposed to be trained to "know better". The head of the pound here in Nashville has offered to train each and every police officer on how to recognize an "aggressive" animal....free because she was so sick by what had happened. My heart goes out to the family that this happened to. Nothing, nothing can make it any better for them!

As for the cop, he's actually left town, on vacation, because of all the threats against him. I honestly don't see how he can keep his job after all this. I'm fairly certain that the town of Cookville wants to get rid of him as badly as we do.

:-jumpy :D Proud mommy to Zachary, Jillian and 10 month old Katie :D :-jumpy​
 
I did not read all the other responses and your post is the first I heard of this. All I can say is after reading what happened, I feel like I am going to vomit. It put a tears in my eyes to read that. How cruel. That cop should NOT be allowed to be a cop. That poor dog and family.

Marci
 
RE: Training

I too was horrified by this incident. My DH is a police officer in California and I asked him about this. He has been saying for years that the law enforcement community is in a crisis--and that training is simply sub-standard. He told me he is unaware of ANY training offered at the academy level for dealing with animals-it's usually a policy decision left to the individual departments. A good friend of ours is a K-9 officer that trains the animals and the officers. He is trying to create a state certified training segment that would offer about 4 hours of instructions on how to deal with animals/pets on the job.
The law enforcement community, from what I am hearing, is really disgusted with the officer in question. For the act, for what it has done to the public trust, etc. Unfortunately, we live in a litigious society and ANY lawsuit against law enforcement, even when completely justified--eats into funds and ultimately takes away from the community. This wasn't an ambiguous situation where someone brandished a "toy" weapon or the dog was growling or whatever....the officer panicked, flat out simple, and screwed up royally. That poor family.
 
Lorrie I saw the story.

I have a beautiful, spoiled rotten American Eskimo that is a very important part of my family. Everytime I hear of some animal abuse or an accident that is caused by careless owners I can't help but think of what it would do to me if heaven forbid that had happened to my Chui.

I like to think positive but I honestly don't think we will ever be able to stop these kind of horrible acts against animals. Everytime I take my dog to the vet there is yet another petition to sign to try and send some animal abuser to jail...its just heart breaking.

I lived in the Bay Area at the time that little Leo was thrown to his death by an enraged driver who had been bumped by Leo's owner...that one still haunts me.

DeeDee
 
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