Childhood attack source of lawmaker’s fear of dogs

Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, drew statewide attention this week after she complained in an emotional House floor speech about encountering a dog in the Legislative Plaza where lawmakers have their offices.

“I know my blood pressure is up sky-high right now — I just encountered a dog down in the plaza,” Favors told colleagues. “I am very upset about this, Madam Speaker. I think it’s so unfair that I have to deal with dogs here in this plaza.”

What went unreported is why she fears dogs — especially large ones like the one she encountered. It was, the Chattanoogan said in a later interview, the result of a dog attacking her when she was a small child. She had to get stitches on her arms and legs.

“I was attacked and bitten, multiple bites,” Favors said. “And a neighbor had to pull the dog off.”

Since then, the lawmaker said, she has “just avoided dogs as much as I could. ... I wouldn’t expect them to be in a job environment.”

Favors said she recognizes that dogs can be useful in any number of ways, such as providing aid to the blind.

“I know they can be good companions,” she said, adding that she let her children own dogs but would not allow them inside her home.

About a month ago, Favors voiced concerns to a Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter when she saw a lawmaker’s dog being walked in a crowded legislative corridor by a secretary. But the dog Favors encountered did not belong to a lawmaker. It was a lobbyist’s.