Watervliet

When state troopers pulled over James "JT" Terry as part of a traffic roadblock, he worried his two dogs would become overheated. He asked if his two Siberian huskies could be let out of the car.

A trooper obliged and tied the dogs to the bumper of a patrol car. Within a half-hour, the trooper tried to answer another call and drove the car away, dragging Terry's dog Lois underneath, breaking her pelvis and spine. She was euthanized two days after the Saturday incident. The second dog survived without injury.

The dog's injury is under investigation, and Terry said he is devastated by the loss of his beloved pet while he was being arrested for having a suspended license. He is talking to an attorney about filing a lawsuit and hopes talking about Lois' death will prevent anyone else from suffering a similar loss.

"I do plan on seeking justice for Lois," he said. "She was the only innocent victim here."

He had owned the dog and her sister, Liz, both almost 3 years old, since they were puppies. Since Saturday's accident, Terry has had trouble sleeping, disturbed by the memories of his dog's horrific injuries. Lois was the runt of her litter, described by Terry's vet as the smallest Husky he had ever seen. She weighed only 40 pounds, 30 less than her sister, and had a distinctive white line down her snout.

"That's what I loved about her, her markings. I love Huskies," he said. "I'd never seen a dog with markings like that. She never growled her whole life. She was the nicest dog."

State Police Capt. William Keeler called the dog's death a horrible accident.

"The trooper feels terrible," he said. "The owner is rightly upset."

The incident happened around 12:15 p.m. Saturday as State Police conducted a roadblock, checking whether drivers were wearing seat belts.

Terry had just come off Interstate 787 in Watervliet when he was stopped.

Troopers prepared to write him a ticket for talking on a cell phone and driving with a license suspended as a result of past tickets that had gone unpaid, State Police Maj. Steven James said.

Troopers reported finding marijuana in the car.

Without air-conditioning, Terry worried the dogs would swiftly overheat in his pickup truck. He called his parents to get them. Unable to reach an animal control officer, James said, a trooper tied them to the patrol car's bumper using the owner's leashes.

Troopers thought of attaching the dogs to a nearby pole, but were afraid the animals could get loose, he said.

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"Because of the heat and the lack of shade, the trooper secured each of the dogs to the bumper," he said.

The dogs wore breakaway collars, which should disconnect if pulled.

James said the trooper saw Terry's family had arrived and mistakenly thought the dogs had been removed, but he failed to check.

"He was under the belief that the dogs had been unsecured," James said. "He proceeded approximately 10 feet. Unfortunately, the dogs were still secured."

Liz's leash detached, and she was unhurt. But Lois was pulled under the Ford Crown Victoria cruiser and was run over by its rear wheels. Terry said he thinks the dog was dragged farther than 10 feet.

James said the troopers followed protocol on how to handle an animal in a car if an owner is being arrested — until the trooper failed to check to be sure the dogs were gone.

An internal investigation is being conducted, James said, to determine the trooper's culpability and determine what if any punishment is in order.

He identified the trooper as Charles Donovan, and said he remains on duty.

"It's terribly unfortunate," James said. "Certainly it's a serious matter, and we're looking at it as such. It's a tragic circumstance. It's something that is atypical. We have an obligation to check and to double check."

When the accident occurred, Terry was handcuffed in a patrol car directly in front of the one on which his dogs were tied.

"I heard the screech of the car taking off," he said. "I was in the cop car. There was nothing I could do. I was screaming 'Get me out of here!' A cop came over and let me out. I ran over and held Lois. I knew something was wrong. Lois was crying, and her legs weren't moving,"

Another trooper picked her up and took her and Terry to the Latham Emergency Clinic.

The dog's injuries were so traumatic that Terry was left with little choice but to euthanize, as the veterinarian recommended.

"My dog broke her spine, broke her pelvis, her bladder exploded," he said.

If Lois had lived, she would have needed $10,000 in surgery and would have been unable to walk for at least a year.

"I can't have her suffer like that the rest of her life," he said. Terry said most of the people at the scene were kind to him, and several troopers went out of their way to help after the accident but Donovan only said he was sorry three days later after Terry and his family complained.

"Everybody else was so nice," he said. "It would have been nice for the state trooper who did this to give me an apology."

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu