Justice For Snow
The Issue
To the Memphis City Council, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, the MLGW Board of Commissioners, and other
appropriate local and state officials:
We, the undersigned residents, utility customers, animal owners, and concerned citizens, call for immediate review and reform of
policies governing MLGW Revenue Protection Investigators, particularly regarding firearms, entry onto residential property,
encounters with family pets, de-escalation, and the use of deadly force against animals.
SNOW'S STORY
Snow was a survivor.
Snow was a rescue and the only one left of her siblings. Her siblings had suffered abuse and had been shot. Somehow, Snow
survived.
We saved her. We brought her home. We gave her the second chance that every rescued animal deserves.
And Snow gave us more in return than we ever could have imagined. She was an amazing dog - loving, loyal, affectionate, and
devoted to her family. She was not simply a dog that lived at our house. Snow was family.
After everything she had survived, Snow finally had a home where she was loved and protected.
Then, in September 2026, an encounter with an MLGW Revenue Protection Investigator on residential property ended with the
investigator firing his weapon and killing Snow.
There is a heartbreaking cruelty in the way Snow's story ended. She survived a beginning marked by abuse and gun violence.
She was rescued from that life, loved by a family, and given a safe home - only for her life to ultimately end by gunfire.
Snow deserved better. We cannot change what happened to her. But we can demand answers, accountability, and policies
designed to prevent another family pet from being unnecessarily killed.
Snow survived once because someone chose to save her.
Now we are choosing to make her story matter.
This is Justice for Snow.
THIS IS BIGGER THAN ONE DOG
Dogs do not understand utility investigations. They may react to unfamiliar people entering their home or territory. That possibility
should be anticipated before an investigator enters property, not addressed only after an encounter has escalated. Employee
safety and animal safety are not opposing goals: advance notice, owner contact, safe retreat, and de-escalation can protect both.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING MLGW AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS TO DO
1. Review firearm policies
Conduct a transparent review of when Revenue Protection Investigators may carry firearms during residential investigations,
including training, certification, oversight, qualification, and use-of-force standards.
2. Require reasonable notice
Whenever circumstances reasonably permit, require investigators to knock, call, text, announce their presence, or otherwise
attempt to contact a resident before entering a fenced, gated, enclosed, or secured residential area.
3. Give residents an opportunity to secure animals
When an animal is observed, heard, reported, posted on a warning sign, documented in utility records, or otherwise reasonably
suspected to be present, provide the resident a reasonable opportunity to secure the animal before proceeding.
4. Make safe retreat the preferred response
When an investigator unexpectedly encounters an unsecured animal and can safely retreat, require withdrawal to a safe location,
contact with the owner, and continuation only after the animal is secured whenever reasonably possible.
5. Require animal-behavior and de-escalation trainingRequire documented training on animal warning signals, territorial behavior, safe retreat, avoidance of escalation, nonlethal
deterrents, and owner-contact procedures.
6. Make deadly force an absolute last resort
State that shooting a household animal is permitted only when the employee reasonably believes there is an immediate threat of
death or serious bodily injury and no reasonable safe alternative exists.
7. Require independent review after firearm discharge
Automatically preserve relevant video, photographs, communications, reports, witness statements, firearm records, utility-account
notes, and available location information, and require an independent review whenever an employee or contractor shoots an
animal.
8. Require transparency about Revenue Protection authority
Publicly explain the classification, property-entry authority, firearm authority, training requirements, use-of-force rules, and
oversight applicable to Revenue Protection Investigators.
9. Create an animal-warning system
Allow customers to place a prominent DOG/ANIMAL ON PROPERTY warning on their account and require that warning to appear
on relevant work orders or electronic devices.
10. Require body-worn cameras for armed residential investigations
If MLGW authorizes armed Revenue Protection Investigators to enter residential property, require body-worn cameras during
those investigations and preservation of footage after use-of-force incidents.
11. Establish meaningful accountability
Provide enforceable consequences when an investigation finds violations of entry, notification, animal-encounter, firearm, or
use-of-force procedures.
OUR POSITION
We are not asking MLGW employees to endanger themselves. We are asking MLGW to prevent foreseeable confrontations
whenever reasonably possible. If an investigator can remain outside a fence, retreat to a safe location, contact the resident, allow
an animal to be secured, and then complete the investigation safely, that protects the investigator, the resident, and the animal.
SNOW DESERVED BETTER
Snow cannot speak for herself, so we will. We ask MLGW, its Board of Commissioners, the Memphis City Council, and all officials
with appropriate oversight authority to review the circumstances surrounding Snow's death and adopt enforceable reforms
designed to prevent unnecessary confrontations between utility personnel and household animals.
JUSTICE FOR SNOW - Protect Pets. Protect People. Prevent the Next Tragedy.JUSTICE FOR SNOW
Official Petition Signature Sheet
By signing below, I support the Justice for Snow petition and its request for reforms concerning MLGW Revenue Protection
Investigators, residential-property entry, animal encounters, de-escalation, firearm use, body-worn cameras, incident review, and
accountability.
Please print clearly. Each signer should personally sign and date their own entry. Do not add Social Security numbers, driver's-license numbers, or
dates of birth.
Justice for Snow - Signature Page
112
The Issue
To the Memphis City Council, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, the MLGW Board of Commissioners, and other
appropriate local and state officials:
We, the undersigned residents, utility customers, animal owners, and concerned citizens, call for immediate review and reform of
policies governing MLGW Revenue Protection Investigators, particularly regarding firearms, entry onto residential property,
encounters with family pets, de-escalation, and the use of deadly force against animals.
SNOW'S STORY
Snow was a survivor.
Snow was a rescue and the only one left of her siblings. Her siblings had suffered abuse and had been shot. Somehow, Snow
survived.
We saved her. We brought her home. We gave her the second chance that every rescued animal deserves.
And Snow gave us more in return than we ever could have imagined. She was an amazing dog - loving, loyal, affectionate, and
devoted to her family. She was not simply a dog that lived at our house. Snow was family.
After everything she had survived, Snow finally had a home where she was loved and protected.
Then, in September 2026, an encounter with an MLGW Revenue Protection Investigator on residential property ended with the
investigator firing his weapon and killing Snow.
There is a heartbreaking cruelty in the way Snow's story ended. She survived a beginning marked by abuse and gun violence.
She was rescued from that life, loved by a family, and given a safe home - only for her life to ultimately end by gunfire.
Snow deserved better. We cannot change what happened to her. But we can demand answers, accountability, and policies
designed to prevent another family pet from being unnecessarily killed.
Snow survived once because someone chose to save her.
Now we are choosing to make her story matter.
This is Justice for Snow.
THIS IS BIGGER THAN ONE DOG
Dogs do not understand utility investigations. They may react to unfamiliar people entering their home or territory. That possibility
should be anticipated before an investigator enters property, not addressed only after an encounter has escalated. Employee
safety and animal safety are not opposing goals: advance notice, owner contact, safe retreat, and de-escalation can protect both.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING MLGW AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS TO DO
1. Review firearm policies
Conduct a transparent review of when Revenue Protection Investigators may carry firearms during residential investigations,
including training, certification, oversight, qualification, and use-of-force standards.
2. Require reasonable notice
Whenever circumstances reasonably permit, require investigators to knock, call, text, announce their presence, or otherwise
attempt to contact a resident before entering a fenced, gated, enclosed, or secured residential area.
3. Give residents an opportunity to secure animals
When an animal is observed, heard, reported, posted on a warning sign, documented in utility records, or otherwise reasonably
suspected to be present, provide the resident a reasonable opportunity to secure the animal before proceeding.
4. Make safe retreat the preferred response
When an investigator unexpectedly encounters an unsecured animal and can safely retreat, require withdrawal to a safe location,
contact with the owner, and continuation only after the animal is secured whenever reasonably possible.
5. Require animal-behavior and de-escalation trainingRequire documented training on animal warning signals, territorial behavior, safe retreat, avoidance of escalation, nonlethal
deterrents, and owner-contact procedures.
6. Make deadly force an absolute last resort
State that shooting a household animal is permitted only when the employee reasonably believes there is an immediate threat of
death or serious bodily injury and no reasonable safe alternative exists.
7. Require independent review after firearm discharge
Automatically preserve relevant video, photographs, communications, reports, witness statements, firearm records, utility-account
notes, and available location information, and require an independent review whenever an employee or contractor shoots an
animal.
8. Require transparency about Revenue Protection authority
Publicly explain the classification, property-entry authority, firearm authority, training requirements, use-of-force rules, and
oversight applicable to Revenue Protection Investigators.
9. Create an animal-warning system
Allow customers to place a prominent DOG/ANIMAL ON PROPERTY warning on their account and require that warning to appear
on relevant work orders or electronic devices.
10. Require body-worn cameras for armed residential investigations
If MLGW authorizes armed Revenue Protection Investigators to enter residential property, require body-worn cameras during
those investigations and preservation of footage after use-of-force incidents.
11. Establish meaningful accountability
Provide enforceable consequences when an investigation finds violations of entry, notification, animal-encounter, firearm, or
use-of-force procedures.
OUR POSITION
We are not asking MLGW employees to endanger themselves. We are asking MLGW to prevent foreseeable confrontations
whenever reasonably possible. If an investigator can remain outside a fence, retreat to a safe location, contact the resident, allow
an animal to be secured, and then complete the investigation safely, that protects the investigator, the resident, and the animal.
SNOW DESERVED BETTER
Snow cannot speak for herself, so we will. We ask MLGW, its Board of Commissioners, the Memphis City Council, and all officials
with appropriate oversight authority to review the circumstances surrounding Snow's death and adopt enforceable reforms
designed to prevent unnecessary confrontations between utility personnel and household animals.
JUSTICE FOR SNOW - Protect Pets. Protect People. Prevent the Next Tragedy.JUSTICE FOR SNOW
Official Petition Signature Sheet
By signing below, I support the Justice for Snow petition and its request for reforms concerning MLGW Revenue Protection
Investigators, residential-property entry, animal encounters, de-escalation, firearm use, body-worn cameras, incident review, and
accountability.
Please print clearly. Each signer should personally sign and date their own entry. Do not add Social Security numbers, driver's-license numbers, or
dates of birth.
Justice for Snow - Signature Page
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Petition created on September 12, 2026