Hunting dog Whiskey was missing after a pickup the hound was being transported crashed on Wednesday in Ogunquit. Maine State Police Matthew Williams found Whiskey Saturday night. He saw the dog in tall grass off the highway. Whiskey began howling. Maine Department of Public Safety
A hunting dog who has been missing since a Wednesday morning crash on the Maine Turnpike in Ogunquit was found Saturday night by a Maine State Police Trooper.
Whiskey, a hound, was one of 10 dogs in steel cages in the back of a 2021 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that crashed Wednesday in Ogunquit.
Maine State Police spokeswoman Shannon Moss said the pickup truck was driven by William Funkhouser, 38, of West Virginia, who fell asleep at the wheel. He swerved into the middle lane, swiped a tractor trailer truck and rolled over several times.
At the time of the crash, Funkhouser’s passenger, Jonah Hose, 23, of West Virginia, was not wearing a seatbelt. He was ejected, seriously injured, and transported to a Portsmouth hospital where he remains in serious condition.
Funkhouser was not injured.
Of the 10 dogs Funkhouser was transporting in steel cages, one dog died at the crash scene. Eight dogs were found and returned to their owner.
But Whiskey was missing, until Saturday.
On Saturday night around 8 p.m. the Augusta Regional Communications Center received two calls from motorists saying they saw what looked like a dog, maybe Whiskey, around mile 11 in York.
Maine State Trooper Matthew Williams began searching the area, lighting up the woods using cruiser lights and a flashlight. He spotted eyes shining back at him from the woods. The dog began howling at the trooper.
“If I hadn’t gotten that fortunate moment of his eye reflection, which then disappeared, I would not have seen him at all,” Williams said in a statement issued by Maine State Police Sunday evening. Williams said eye reflections in the woods are common. He often sees deer, bear, coyotes and bobcats in woods.
Williams said he brought a piece of chicken with him when he walked down an embankment in hopes of winning the animal’s trust and to give him enough energy to climb back up the embankment. The dog could barely stand up it was so famished, Williams said.
Whiskey eventually finished off the trooper’s dinner, including two chicken breasts, a cheese stick and two liters of water.
“That was the last time he walked last night. I had to carry him after that. He’s a survivor,” Williams said.
The dog was turned over to Ogunquit Police and the Animal Control Officer where he will be cared for until reunited with his owner.
Moss said that State Police still do not know why the driver was transporting the dogs or where he was headed with the animals.
“There will be no charges filed against he driver of the truck. The large stainless steel crate the dogs were being transported in is similar to what you see on an animal control truck. The dogs were being transported properly,” Moss said in a statement.
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