An emotional speech on the House floor by state Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, has led to an emphasis on the ban of pets in the legislative plaza of the Tennessee Capitol.
Favors said that she encountered a dog in the plaza while coming out of a committee meeting. “This huge dog was just coming back and forth, back and forth, and I was just so fearful,” Favors said in an interview. The experience upset her so much that she felt the need to speak out on the House floor about her “extreme fear of dogs.”
“I think it’s so unfair that I have to deal with dogs, here in this plaza,” Favors declared, adding that the experience had caused her blood pressure to go up sky high. “So I’m going to call someone tomorrow, to find out what I can do about it.”
Though Favors had threatened to call an attorney, she later said the warning was mostly an exaggeration. “I’m tremendously aware of the companionship of dogs, but I also know that some have mauled babies and others to death,” Favors said, who cited her fear from being attacked by a dog as a child. “My blood pressure shot up, and that was just a normal reaction to fear. If someone had approached you with a gun, you would have experienced the same thing.”
State Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Hixson, backed up Favors on the House floor, strongly emphasizing that all types of animals were illegal in the legislative plaza. “I don’t care if it’s dogs, cats, chickens, or goats, please do not bring them here,” McCormick said. “Leave them at home.”
McCormick later said that though he was speaking out on Favors’ behalf, his remarks were a little sarcastic. “I was just trying to emphasize the point,” McCormick said. “I probably went a little far, but that’s what I was doing.”
Favors agreed, saying that animals other than dogs were not too common to see on the Capitol grounds. “About once a year, we have an agriculture day, and they have the animals in pens,” she said. “That’s a good thing. They have a milking contest, and you know, it’s interesting.”
