Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 1:12am
So when the cops kill your dog, even when you've done nothing wrong, even if the pup was harmless, it's "sorry" the officer felt "threatened" and there's little you can do about it. It's just an animal, after all.
During an elaborate memorial, Ringo the police dog received a final send-off Friday befitting canine aristocracy.
A motorcade of 30 police cruisers rolled slowly beneath a giant American flag stretched between fire department ladder trucks.
A floral arrangement spelling out the dog's name was put across the windshield of the cruiser in which the Belgian Malinois traveled with his human partner, Anderson County Deputy Rick Coley.
Taps played softly outside the Clinton Community Center, where more than 100 people gathered to pay their respects.
Among the mourners: some 50 law enforcement officers - Clinton police, Anderson, Scott and Campbell County deputies, state troopers and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers.
A multimedia slide show with pictures of Ringo in action, training and posing with his master or just cavorting, was flashed on the center's Great Room wall.
Is this really necessary?