Drone pilot helps missing dog escape from coyote in dramatic video

Commercial drones have a lot of applications beyond capturing nifty aerial photos for your wedding or real estate listing. In many cases, like disaster and search-and-rescue efforts, they can even help save lives. Natural State Drone Solutions, a company based in Russellville, Arkansas, uses the technology for pet tracking—and, in one dramatic example, they helped a couple rescue their missing dog from the clutches of a coyote.

Chris Laughlin, the company’s owner, detailed the encounter in an interview with Little Rock, Arkansas, ABC affiliate KATV. "The owners called me up and sounded pretty desperate," he said. Jordan and Brook Allen from nearby Morrilton hadn’t seen their dachshund, Whiskey, in four days, after the pup pushed through a loose board in their fence and headed to a wooded area. “We had posted a lot of posts on Facebook about him being missing, and somebody posted saying [to] try to get in touch with somebody with a drone,” Brook told KLRT Little Rock.

The hunt for Whiskey

They recruited Laughlin, who searched for four hours using thermal imaging cameras. He eventually spotted Whiskey hiding under some brush—but just as he switched over to a regular camera, he also spotted the coyote. In the footage—which, we should warn, could be upsetting to some viewers—we see the animal grab Whiskey and start dragging him away. But Laughlin stays on the hunt: "He let him go," he says in the clip. "I’m right over top of your dog."

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Life-saving instincts

That determination likely helped save the dog. "My instinct was to get right on the coyote and let the air from the propellers hit that coyote,” Laughlin told KLRT. In the footage, we see a vehicle drive up to Whiskey and someone pick him up, scored by the sound of relief and celebrations. "Got him, got him, got him! Saved his life!" Laughlin exclaims.

"Found this pup at the exact right time," he wrote on his company’s Facebook page. "Right as I found it, a coyote snagged it. I dove down and hit the coyote with the prop wash, and it dropped it. I hovered about 10 feet over it to protect it…If I hadn’t found him, that coyote would have had him for good. It was hunting him. The family is so happy to have their pup home!"

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Replying to a question on Facebook, Laughlin wrote that Whiskey "miraculously survived with zero injuries from the coyote," mentioning only "superficial scratches from the thick briars and brush he was in." The Allens were, naturally, overjoyed to have their pet back, praising Laughin for helping them reunite safely: “There was no way that we would’ve found him without that drone. He saved our family, he’s a part of the family."

Other companies also use drones to aid in pet tracking, sometimes thinking outside the box. In 2022, a rescue team in Denmead, England, came up with a genius plan to save a Jack Russell Whippet that was stranded on some mudflats near the Hampshire coast. Worrying she’d be swept away by rising tides, they lured her to safety by dangling a sausage from the drone.

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