The Humane Society of the United States today released the
following statement by Martha C. Armstrong, senior vice
president, Companion Animals and Equine Protection on the case
of dog shooting by Tennessee Highway Patrol:
The HSUS would like to express its profound sympathy to Mr.
and Mrs. Smoak and their entire family for the unfortunate and
tragic loss of their pet dog, Patton, who was shot and killed
by a Cookeville, Tennessee Police officer during a traffic stop
on New Years Day.
The Humane Society of the United States believes that all
law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to train their
agents and officers who may come in contact with any animal,
wild or domestic, in basic animal behavior and temperament.
Officers need to be able to distinguish between aggressive and
potentially dangerous animals and those who are friendly yet
frightened. Unfortunate incidents such as this one underscore
the need for such training to insure they do not occur in the
future.
To that end, The HSUS is in the process of finalizing a
program to train law enforcement on the handling of potentially
dangerous dogs. The program provides officers with the skills
necessary to recognize behavioral signs in dogs. This will
allow the officer to distinguish between a dog that is acting
excited, fearful or protective, or one that is truly dangerous
or aggressive, and poses a danger. The HSUS currently includes
segments on handling dangerous dogs in investigations workshops
that are offered to law enforcement officials across the
country.
We will be contacting the Tennessee Highway Patrol and
Cookeville Police Department to offer our services with the
goal of preventing incidents like this from happening
again.
