Jordan and Brook Allen of Morrilton, Arkansas, were left heartbroken when their 3-year-old dachshund, Whiskey, slipped away from home. The spirited pup managed to squeeze through a gap in a fence after a board came loose, vanishing before the couple realized he was gone. The couple spent the next three days frantically searching for the dog. They searched on foot, spoke with neighbors, and posted on social media. They suspected that Whiskey was hiding in a wooded area not far from their home, but finding the small dog was proving to be an extremely difficult task.

Desperate to bring Whiskey home safely, Jordan and Brook knew they had to think outside the box and act quickly to ensure the dog’s survival. While scouring the internet for ways to help, they came across several social media posts about a local drone operator who uses drones to locate wildlife and missing pets. With zero hesitation, they called Chris Laughlin, owner of Natural State Drone Solutions, based in Russellville, Arkansas.

Chris entered the drone industry to capitalize on a growing niche, utilizing drones for deer recovery. Drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras can detect the heat signatures of deer carcasses, even in dense vegetation or low-light conditions. Michael Yoder, a pioneer in drone-assisted deer recovery for hunters, launched Drone Deer Recovery in 2022 in New Philadelphia, Ohio. “We use thermal imaging drones to locate the body heat of a carcass,” Michael explained. “If you hit a deer and you can’t find it, and you call us in time, we will come out and use the thermal imaging to find the heat. We use a 200x zoom camera at 400 feet to zoom in and see if that’s the deer you hit or not. The hunter identifies the deer we are looking at.”

For Chris, transitioning from using his drone to help hunters locate wildlife to helping pet owners locate lost furry family members was a natural step. Using drones to find missing pets is another growing niche in the industry. Cathy Eaton of Omaha, Nebraska, founded Lost Pets of Omaha Area in 2013. In recent years, she and her Part 107 licensed drone operator husband, Richard, have expanded their volunteer services to include deploying drones to find missing pets. Richard’s drone of choice is the DJI Mavic 3.

A powerhouse, easy-to-use, and budget-friendly drone, the Mavic 3 is one of the most popular drones in the world. It is a compact, high-performance drone known for its long flight time and advanced camera systems. Its thermal imaging capabilities allow operators to detect heat signatures even in dense foliage or low-light conditions. It is no wonder that Chris uses it as well. In the now-viral video of Chris using his Mavic 3 to help Jordan and Brook find Whiskey, the drone became the difference between life and death for the small dog.

Chris and the Allens went out to a field in the early morning hours where Whiskey was last reported to have been seen. However, because of the dense foliage, the tiny dog could not be found. Chris sent up his drone and spent several hours scanning the large field, switching out batteries as needed. “We could hear a dog out in this field that, you know, where it was last spotted, but we couldn’t see it,” Chris explained. Finally, the drone’s thermal imaging camera found something, a heat signature of a small animal hiding under some bushes.

To confirm that the heat signature was in fact Whiskey, Chris switched to the drone’s regular camera mode to show it to the couple. But that is when things took a dramatic turn. Creeping up on the dog was a coyote. Chris quickly jumped into action as the coyote grabbed the dog. Using the downward airflow from the drone’s spinning propellers, known as prop wash, Chris was able to startle the coyote and force it to release Whiskey.

This gave Jordan and Brook just enough time to rush into the field, using the hovering drone as a marker, and scoop up Whiskey. The relieved couple said there is no way they could thank Chris enough for saving their beloved dog, who only suffered a few minor scratches. Chris went on to explain how drone technology is changing lives for the better all around the world every day. “It saves lives, you know,” he said of drones, “and it saves pets as well.”

Previous Drone News: