The incident was seen on a Highway 431 from Albertville to Boaz. A woman took a snapshot of it and shared it on Facebook. She said it was particularly disturbing because she had her two children in the car.
Explaining to a small child why the officer drove around with a dead dog in the back of his truck is something Skylar Lambert couldn't answer, so she took a picture of it. She put it on Facebook, and with nearly 400 shares, the officer is now answering that question to his boss.
County commissioner James Hutcheson said he understands how people could feel upset at the sight.
"I'm not trying to defend the animal control officer for driving down 431 with a dead dog. That should not have happened. It won't happen again," he said.
“I’m not trying to defend that,” said Marshall County Commission Chairman James Hutcheson.
He said first thing Tuesday morning, he began investigating what happened, meeting with Hooks and listening to his explanation.
“He didn’t have room to put the dead dog in the back,” said Hutcheson about what Hooks told him. “So he put it on the tailgate, which was a mistake and he transported it to be disposed of.”
Hooks told WHNT NEWS 19 he had live stray dogs in the other cages and wanted to keep them from destroying the dead dog. Hooks said he also wanted to avoid making two 70-mile round trips.
“The mistake he made was not making two trips,” said Chairman Hutcheson. “He should have took the live animals and put them in the location and then he should have came back, put the large animal inside the box, closed it up so it wasn’t visible to the public.”
Hooks admits he should have done things differently, but says it shouldn’t cost him his job.
Animal Control Officer Kevin Hooks said a man shot the dog when it became aggressive with him.
Hooks said he didn't want to put the dead dog in with the three live animals in the cage. Hooks regrets the incident and said he wished he had covered the dog up because he didn't want to leave it at the home of the family the dog had apparently threatened.
Lambert said people tried to tell the officer when he was stopped in Albertville. "A guy jumped out of his truck at the red light, ran around, knocked on his window to let him know the dog was hanging out, and he just kept going," she said.
"I didn't feel like I should leave it to be ravaged by coyotes or wild animals. There was also an 87-year-old woman that lived at the house and I didn't want to leave it there for her to see," he said.
“All I did was try to respectfully discard an animal carcass,” said Hooks. “I didn’t want to leave it for wild animals in the field… I just wish we would have transported it a little different.”
Hooks does have a controversial past in Marshall County. He has held the position for seven years.
In 2012, residents turned in a petition against him to the County Commission, angry over the way he handled various cases.
Hutcheson said he took appropriate action then, but wouldn’t elaborate.
Due to Hooks’ past, this incident could be grounds for dismissal.
(WAFF - March 18, 2014)
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