A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 01/12/03
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ ParkStRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ A Nightmare In Tennessee by Greg Lawson
2 ~ My Foster Dog is Beautiful by Martha O'connor
3 ~ AR2003
4 ~ Hysterical Propaganda From Irresponsible Environmentalists
by Robert Cohen
5 ~ Act Radio - Animal Concerns of Texas
6 ~ Special Place
7 ~ Memorable Quotes
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~1~
A Nightmare in Tennessee
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
On
January 9th, the Tennessee Highway Patrol released the patrol car video showing
the tragic events which befell the James Smoak family of Saluda, N.C. on January
1st. Soon, through CNN and other news outlets, the whole country became
aware of the unnecessary killing of the Smoak’s dog, Patton, by a Cookeville,
Tennessee, policeman.
James Smoak was traveling with his wife Pamela, their 17-year-old son, Brandon
and two dogs, Cassie and Patton. On the road back to N.C. from Nashville, they
had stopped for gas and James left his wallet on the hood of his station
wagon. When the wallet fell off and scattered $400 in small bills across
I-40, a passing motorist called the Highway Patrol stating that it looked
suspicious and gave a description of the car and its license plate
number. Dispatchers at the THP erroneously determined that a robbery had
taken place even though no robbery had been reported. A “be on the
lookout” alert for a robbery suspect was broadcast.
THP Troopers spotted the Smoak’s vehicle and called Cookeville police to assist
them in a “felony stop.” One by one, James, Pamela and Brandon were
ordered out of the car, handcuffed and placed in a kneeling position by the
side of the road. The police videotape shows one of the officers looking
into the car’s open door and saying that there were dogs inside. Both
James and Pamela pleaded several times that the officers close the car door so
the dogs wouldn’t get out, but their requests were ignored.
Three minutes into the arrest, Patton, a mixed breed bulldog, left the car and
approached Cookeville officer Eric Hall who shot it in the head with his
shotgun. The police camera recorded the cries of anguish of the Smoak
family as their beloved pet was killed in front of them. It was later
determined that no robbery had taken place and the family was released.
In his official report, Officer Hall wrote that he thought Patton was a pit
bull and that it “charged toward me grouling (sic) in an aggressive
manner.” Martha Armstrong, senior vice president for companion animals
for the Humane Society of the United States had a different opinion after
viewing the videotape. "When you see a dog approaching with its head up,
ears up and tail wagging, this should be an indication that this is a friendly
animal."
The Cookeville Police Department conducted an internal investigation and found
that its officers, who were providing backup for the Highway Patrol, ''performed
their duties according to training and policy,'' according to spokesman Capt.
Nathan Honeycutt. If this is so, then the training is inadequate.
Martha Armstrong believes all police agencies need more training in how to tell
the difference between an aggressive and a non-aggressive animal. It is
obvious that they also need more training in how to deal with companion animals
in suspect’s vehicles.
By leaving the car door open in spite of family’s pleas to close it, and even
after having seen the dogs inside, the officers demonstrated a callous
disregard for the lives of the animals. They also showed a disregard for
the safety of the passing motorists who could have been involved in an accident
had the dogs ran into traffic. How much training overcomes ineptitude?
The Smoaks have indicated that they plan to initiate legal action against both
the Cookeville Police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Our hearts go out to the Smoak family and we hope they will recover from the
terrible events of January 1st. We also hope that this tragedy will
result in improved police procedures by law enforcement agencies across the
country when dealing with companion animals. Surely, non-lethal
techniques can be developed for such situations.
Something else we should all learn from this - traveling with a companion
animal involves a certain amount of risk. Animals should be kept inside
carriers, tied or otherwise restrained during travel to protect them in case of
accidents or felony stops by inept police. Loose animals inside vehicles
also present the risk of interfering with the proper operation of the
vehicle.
Please remember your animals’ safety when you travel.
For news stories about the incident in Cookeville….
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/09/police.kill.dog/index.html
http://story.herald-citizen.com/newsstory4.htm?%5brkey=0024318+%5bcr=gdn
http://story.herald-citizen.com/newsstory5.htm?%5brkey=0024331+%5bcr=gdn
If after learning more you want to write letters you can contact....
THP District Six Headquarters
Attention: Captain Randy Hoover
P.O. Box 826
1291 Bunker Hill Rd
Cookeville, Tenn. 38501
Phone: (931) 528-8496
Email: safety@mail.state.tn.us (mail.state.tn.us)
Cookeville Police Department
10 East Broad Street
Cookeville, TN 38501
Phone: (931) 526-2125
Cookeville Mayor Charles Womack
City of Cookeville
45 East Broad Street
Cookeville, TN 38501
Phone: 931-520-5241, 931-526-9591
Email: mayor@cookeville-tn.org (cookeville-tn.org)
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~2~
My Foster Dog is Beautiful
By Martha O'Connor
Corgi and Corgi Mix rescue - Missouri
submitted by Beatrice Welles - cecibn@sedona.net
My
foster dog stinks to high heaven. I don't know for sure what breed he is. His
eyes are blank and hard. He won't let me pet him and growls when I reach for
him. He has ragged scars and crusty sores on his skin. His nails are long and
his teeth which he showed me are stained. I sigh. I drove two hours for this. I
carefully maneuver him so that I can stuff him in the crate. Then I heft the
crate and put it in the car. I am going home with my new foster dog.
At home I leave him in the crate till all the other dogs are in the yard. I get
him out of the crate and ask him if he wants 'outside.' As I lead him to the
door he hikes his leg on the wall and shows me his stained teeth again. When we
come in he goes to the crate because that's the only safe place he sees. I
offer him food but he won't eat it if I look at him, so I turn my back. When I
come back the food is gone. I ask again about 'outside.' When we come back I
pat him before I let him in the crate, he jerks away and runs into the crate to
show me his teeth.
The next day I decide I can't stand the stink any longer I lead him into the
bath with cheese in my hand. His fear of me is not quite overcome by his wish
for the cheese. And well he should fear me, for I will give him a bath. After
an attempt or two to bail out he is defeated and stands there. I have bathed
four legged bath squirters for more dog years than he has been alive. His only
defense was a show of his stained teeth that did not hold up to a face full of
water. As I wash him it is almost as if I wash not only the stink and dirt away
but also some of his hardness. His eyes look full of sadness now. And he looks
completely pitiful as only a soap covered dog can. I tell him that he will feel
better when he is cleaned. After the soap the towels are not too bad so he lets
me rub him dry. I take him outside. He runs for joy. The joy of not being in
the tub and the joy of being clean. I, the bath giver, am allowed to share the
joy. He comes to me and lets me pet him.
One week later I have a vet bill. His skin is healing. He likes for me to pet
him. I think I know what color he will be when his hair grows in. I have found
out he is terrified of other dogs. So I carefully introduce him to my mildest
four legged brat. It doesn't go well.
Two weeks later a new vet bill for an infection that was missed on the first
visit. He plays with the other dogs.
Three weeks later he asks to be petted. He chewed up part of the rug.
Eight weeks later his coat shines, he has gained weight. He shows his clean
teeth when his tongue lolls out after he plays chase in the yard with the gang.
His eyes are soft and filled with life. He loves hugs and likes to show off his
tricks, if you have the cheese.
Someone called today and asked about him, they saw the picture I took the first
week. They asked about his personality, his history, his breed. They asked if
he was pretty. I asked them lots of questions. I checked up on them. I prayed.
I said yes. When they saw him the first time they said he was the most
beautiful dog they had ever seen.
Six months later I got a call from his new family. He is wonderful, smart, well
behaved and very loving. How could someone not want him?
I told them I didn't know.
He is beautiful.
They all are.
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~3~
AR2003
From Alex Hershaft - chair@animalrights2003.org
We
are pleased to announce two national animal rights conferences in 2003:
AR2003-East, June 27 - July 1, at the McLean Hilton Hotel, near DC
AR2003-West, August 1-5, at the Westin-LAX, in Los Angeles.
(The LA conference will be the first on the west coast since 1985.)
The program and the price of registration, accommodations, and food will be
very similar to those of AR2002 (see ttp://www.animalrights2002.org).
Each conference will begin with the opening reception and plenary on Friday
evening, but will close with the Tuesday evening banquet. Wednesday will be
available to supportive groups for arranging their own events: lobbying,
demonstrations, seminars, special interest meetings.
We expect to have more details in January, will post them on the new AR2003 web
site, and will issue a call for presenters. All pertinent announcements will be
posted on AR-News and other key movement listservs. We're not likely to have
any answers before then, because we will be working on the Meatout campaign.
I look forward to seeing each of you at one or both of those gatherings.
Alex Hershaft, National Chair, AR Conferences.
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~4~
Hysterical Propaganda
From Irresponsible Environmentalists
By Robert Cohen - notmilk@earthlink.net
www.notmilk.com
A
few years ago, I purchased the 50-year collection of Hoard's Dairyman magazine,
the National Dairy Farm Magazine, from a retired Rhode Island dairyman.
The February 25, 1972 issue contained an article extolling the virtues of DDT
and similar chemicals, attacking the true enemy of the dairy industry,
"environmentalists." Hoard's wrote:
"The current vicious, hysterical propaganda campaign against the use of
agricultural chemicals, being promoted today by fear-provoking, irresponsible
environmentalists has its genesis in the best selling,
half-science-half-fiction 'Silent Spring' that was published in 1962."
Thirty-one years ago, Hoard's claimed:
"No chemical has done as much as DDT to improve the health, economic, and
social benefits of the people of developing nations."
Hoard's warned:
"But DDT would be only the first of the dominoes. As soon as DDT is
successfully banned, there will be a push for the banning of all chlorinated
hydrocarbons; then, in order, the organic phosphates and carbamate
insecticides. Once the task is finished on insecticides, they will attack the
weed killers and eventually the fungicides."
The higher up one eats on the food chain, the more one consumes concentrated
toxins from flesh and body fluids of animals. Eat one portion of broccoli or
lettuce and you'll ingest one dose of pesticides and dioxins. After all, these
chemicals are in the environment. Ingest body fluids from animals who eat
thousands of doses, and you deliver these same concentrated residues of poisons
to your own body.
Sixteen years after this Hoard's article appeared, an FDA survey of milk
samples from grocery stores in 10 cities found that 73% of the samples
contained pesticide residues. (Environmental Contamination and Toxicology,
1991; 47).
Hoard's asked, "What's next?" In 1972, chlorinated hydrocarbons were
considered to be as healthy as mom's apple pie and a glass of milk.
In January of 1998, the Journal of Animal Science, (Jan, 76:1) reported:
"The majority of toxic dioxin is and has been derived from industrial
chlorination processes, incineration of municipal waste, and production of
certain herbicides. The lipophilic nature of dioxins results in higher
concentrations in the fat of animal and fish products, and their excretion via
milk secretion in dairy cattle may result in relatively high concentrations of
dioxin contamination in high-fat dairy products."
Let us all give thanks to the "hysterical propaganda campaign" of
"irresponsible environmentalists."
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~5~
ACT Radio - Animal Concerns of
Texas
Be sure to listen to ACT Radio's fifth episode
tonight at 9:30pm EST (7:30pm, mountain time) with co-hosts Mimi Macias and
Animal Rights Online journalists Greg Lawson and Steve Best. KTEP can be
heard over the web with Real Radio, which is a free download.
http://www.ktep.org/program_detail.ssd?id=103
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 :
National Public Radio for the Southwest
We will discuss MadCow disease and the lawsuit brought by the Texas Cattlemen's
Association against Oprah Winfrey with the codefendant in the trial, Howard
Lyman, author of MadCowboy, Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who
Won't Eat Meat.
If you enjoy the show, please contact KTEP and tell them you support ACT Radio
and are pleased to hear this kind of programming.
General
Feedback: http://www.ktep.org/index.ssd
A note about
getting Real Radio if you don't already have it...
On the KTEP website you will see an icon on the left that says Listen to KTEP
Online, click it. The next page will say "In order to listen to KTEP
on-line you will need the Real Player, which is available for free on the Real
website. Click here to visit their download area." Go there.
That page will try to sell you the deluxe RealOne Player, but look in the top
right hand corner, there is a link that says "Free RealOne
Player". Go there.
Now on this page, on the bottom right, you will see a link that says
"Download the Free RealOne Player Only". This is what you want.
The download takes a little time, so be sure to do this early so you won't miss
today's installment of ACT Radio.
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~6~
Special Place
Author Unknown
You have a special place, Dear Lord, that I know you'll always keep.
A special place reserved for dogs, to peacefully fall asleep.
A place with fluffy pillows, and a yard for hiding bones,
With maybe a little babbling creek, that rushes over stones.
With wide green fields and flowers, for those who never knew
Of running, playing freely under sky of perfect blue.
Lord, I know you keep this special place, And so, to you I pray
For one oh so special dog Who came to you today.
He was full of strength and love, And so very, very wise.
The puppy look he once had, This morning left his eyes.
He will be dearly missed, Lord, This special love of mine.
But now, he'll romp and play in your land that's so divine.
Speak to my baby softly, please; with a hug and warm hello.
He's a special gift to you, Dear Lord; From me - who loves him so.
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~7~
Memorable Quotes
"He is my other eyes that
can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the
part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times
over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the
way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when
I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is
not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I
am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am
only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has
taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a
private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His
head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection
against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me...
whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always
have. He is just my dog."
- Gene Hill
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they
went."
- Will Rogers
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
&
Advisory Board Member, Animal Rights Network Inc.,
not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The
Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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