Oak Ridge woman, Jacquii Cooke, admits to smothering her dog to death

TENNESSEE -- An Oak Ridge woman admitted on Facebook, and to Local 8 News, that she smothered her dog to death out of an act of compassion and love.

Jacquii Cooke posted a rant on Facebook about how her Pit Bull, Blu, didn't get the medical treatment he deserved when she took him to a local veterinary clinic. In the post, Cooke says Blu was suffering from what appeared to be heartworms, but the medicine for it wasn't working.

Cooke said that three days after Blu began taking the medicine, the worms started crawling out of him and the dog lost about 10 pounds. It was at that point Cooke decided to smother the dog to death out of an act of compassion and love.

Her post read, "FWIW. I smoothered[sic] him to death in a kind act of compassion and love".

The post drew an immediate response from several people, including Missi Carlisle, who showed the posts to police and filed a report of animal cruelty.

"I've never heard of anything happening and someone blatantly going on Facebook saying this," Carlisle said. "I don't understand how you can suffocate a dog in a kind and compassionate way."

Cooke was adamant that what she did was best for the dog, and does not care what people think of her, or what she did.

Cooke also admitted to Local 8 News that she had smothered a dog to death previously to this time, and said she would do it again if another one of her dogs became sick. She said she did it because she did not want anyone to stick a needle in any of her dogs.

"I held him in my arms and I put him out of his misery. It was an act of compassion. And if anyone cares to think differently - I'm happy to entertain a conversation," Cooke wrote in an email to Local 8 News.

At the Oak Ridge Veterinary Hospital, a clinic unrelated to this case, Dr. Kris Novinger said she has never seen anything like this before.

"It's appalling to me that she felt that smothering him to death was an act of compassion and love. That's, that's....not any compassion that I know of. That's cruel and unusual punishment," Novinger said.

Novinger said there are any number of other options that one could pursue with a sick animal. She explained that taking the dog to an animal shelter would have been a better option because the shelter could of at least put the dog down in a more humane manner. She also suggested that the dog could have been given to someone who could have afforded to pay the bills for the dog, instead of covering its face and killing it.

But Cooke was clear that she did what she thought was best.

"I will NEVER allow anyone to euthanize my animals. EVER! I will not pay any person on the face of earth to kill my dog," Cooke wrote.

The Oak Ridge Police Department is investigating this case and has spoken with Cooke about the claims.

(WVLT - Nov 9, 2015)

Arkansas couple tortured small dog before finally killing it, say police

ARKANSAS -- A Fayetteville couple was arrested on suspicion of tying up their four-year-old son to a stake in the back yard and abusing their dog, police say.

Dana Gabbard, 26, was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on Dec. 3 at 8:52 p.m. She faces charges of aggravated animal cruelty, cruelty to animals and second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, according to the jail’s intake report. Gabbard had her first hearing on Friday (Dec. 5) at 7:45 a.m., jail records state.

Police were sent out to a residence at 1548 N. Leverett Ave. on Oct. 25 after Gabbard had called into a suicide hotline to say she was feeling homicidal toward her neighbor, according to an arrest warrant. Gabbard also admitted to shooting and killing her dog, Gizmo, the warrant states.

When police arrived, they spoke with Joshua Gabbard, who admitted he had put Gizmo “out of his misery” due to the abuse suffered from Dana Gabbard, according to the warrant.

Officers found the dog in a nearby dumpster with “apparent trauma to its head and muzzle,” the warrant states.

The dog’s body was turned over to a veterinarian for a necropsy, according to the warrant.

Police immediately seized a dachshund named Nevaeh from the residence, and they later found out that dog had also been shot with a BB gun, the warrant states.

While at the residence, the Department of Human Services requested that Dana Gabbard’s four-year-old son be placed in the custody of his grandmother over concerns of environmental neglect at the home, according to the warrant. The living conditions were described as “horrid,” the warrant states.

Dana Gabbard was taken to a nearby hospital by Central EMS and later gave a statement to police.
She admitted to slamming Gizmo down outside, whipping him with a braided leather belt and shooting him point blank with a BB gun, according to the warrant.

The dog suffered until it was killed by Joshua Gabbard and another man named Corey Douthitt, the warrant states.

 

Gizmo’s body was taken to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission in Little Rock for a thorough examination. While there, a veterinarian found evidence of trauma throughout the dog’s body and removed two BBs from Gizmo’s corpse, according to the warrant.

On Nov. 4, the four-year-old son was interviewed by investigators, and he told them he witnessed abuse to the dog by Dana Gabbard, the warrant states. He also said he saw Joshua Gabbard and Douthitt kill the dog behind the residence, according to the warrant.

He also told investigators that his parents would place a collar and leash around his neck connected to a stake in the ground outside, the warrant states.

Later, DHS confirmed to investigators that Joshua and Dana Gabbard tested positive for marijuana, according to the warrant. Joshua Gabbard also tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the warrant.

On Nov. 12, Joshua Gabbard was interviewed at the Fayetteville Police Department. While there, he admitted to breaking Gizmo’s neck, striking him over the head with a shovel and putting the dead body in a nearby dumpster, the warrant states.

He also said Douthitt had stomped on Gizmo’s head and hit the dog with a shovel, according to the warrant.

On Nov. 18, police interviewed Douthitt. He told officers that he and Joshua Gabbard took the dog outside to kill him, the warrant states.

Douthitt told police that Joshua Gabbard tried to smother Gizmo and then snapped his neck, according to the warrant. Despite having his neck snapped, Gizmo was still alive, Douthitt said.

Douthitt said he advised they hit Gizmo in the head with a shovel because that “would be more quiet than shooting it,” the warrant states.

Joshua Gabbard hit Gizmo over the head with the shovel three or four times until the handle broke, according to the warrant.

Douthitt said he went inside to find a box to put the dog in but noticed the four-year-old son had been watching both of them from the living room window, the warrant states.

An arrest warrant was later issued for Dana Gabbard, and she was taken into custody on Dec. 3, according to jail records.

She is being held on a $5,000 bond, and her next court date is scheduled for Dec. 31 at 7:45 a.m., the jail’s intake report states.

Joshua Gabbard, 33, of Fayetteville was also arrested on Dec. 3, according to the jail’s intake report. His bond was set at $5,000, but he bonded out of jail a few hours after being booked in, jail records state. He’s facing charges of aggravated animal cruelty and endangering the welfare of a minor. His next court date is the same as Dana Gabbard’s, according to the jail’s intake report.

(5NewsOnline - Dec 5, 2014)