Bloodhounds Trained To Catch Arsonists During Fall Wildlife Season

The Kentucky Division of Forestry are using dogs to catch arsonists as the fall wildfire season, which runs from Oct. 1 through Dec. 15, gets underway.

KDF announced that bloodhounds trained to investigate arson cases and handlers will be available for forest fire cases for the first time.

Forestry officials agree that vigorous investigation is the key to catching arsonists, but community effort is needed if arson is to be eliminated. “Everybody loses when wildland arsonists strike: families can lose their homes, firefighters are put at unnecessary risk, taxpayers foot the bill for suppressing the fires and jobs are often eliminated when the forest resource is reduced,” said Leah W. MacSwords, director of the Division of Forestry. “To bring arson to an end, we need the entire community to get involved.”

Kentucky has an arson hotline so citizens can call to report forest arson. Suspected arsonists should be reported by calling the Target Arson Hotline at 1-800-27-ARSON. Notifiers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if the information provided leads to the arrest and indictment of an arsonist.