Man charged in shooting of Estill Co. search & rescue dog

ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) — State Police say 59-year-old Charles Collins, of Irvine, is behind bars after they say he shot and killed a search dog named Hunter.

Estill County Rescue Squad’s dog, Hunter, went missing Sunday morning.

He was found shot to death off Kissey Branch Road Monday afternoon.

The team’s junior search dog took them to the area near Collins house. They say Hunter was found across the street in the field near the road.

“Once we got there and got to looking, found the dog and we got to looking around and found blood spots at the end of the driveway,” says Estill County Rescue Squad’s Captain Chris Mitchell. “And in the road in front of his house then we actually came across a shotgun shell laying in the driveway.”

Captain Mitchell says someone saw Collins taking Hunter.

“From one of the witnesses they actually saw him take the dog by the collar saying ‘I’m gonna take him back,’ and heard some commotion and witnessed the dog being shot,” says Mitchell.

Hunter’s handler, David Conrad, says he’s devastated.

“A part of me died with him yesterday,” says Conrad. “I mean when i found him, it was the worst feeling I’d ever had in my life.”

Conrad reflects on the time he had with Hunter.

“We called him the gentle giant I mean he was a big dog,” says Conrad. “He weighed a little over 100 pounds but I mean he would absolutely play with any small kid.”

He says he was a great rescue dog.

“He found one guy in 8 minutes for us.”

But Conrad says Hunter was so much more than a search dog to him.

“There’s a big bond between people and their dogs but when you have a service dog that you work with that’s your partner,” says Conrad. “I mean there’s a stronger bond there. Hunter wasn’t just my dog he was my family.”

A service dog like Hunter can cost nearly ten-thousand dollars and the rescue squad will need another to fill his spot.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for the training, certifications, tracking equipment for the dogs and a new dog itself.