A Tennessee police department is reacting to an officer's shooting of a family dog by training all officers in handling aggressive animals.
The Cookeville (Tenn.) Police Department received thousands of angry complaints following the Jan. 1 shooting during a videotaped traffic stop.
Police and state troopers pulled over and handcuffed James and Pamela Smoak and their 17-year-old son, mistakenly suspecting they had been involved in a robbery. The tape shows an officer shooting the dog, named Patton, after the bulldog-boxer mix jumped from the car and ran toward him.
Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist personally apologized to the North Carolina family, who were on their way home from a vacation in Nashville.
The Humane Society of the United States will conduct training in March, according to Sgt. David Dukes, who oversees training for the department.