Family mourns shooting of beloved family pet, Copper – Daily Journal Online

SFC Sheriff’s Department investigating shooting

The Duncan family from the Hager Road community just outside Farmington is coping with a fresh and sad silence in their home following the death of Copper, a small male beagle-mix who was more than a pet; he was a beloved family member to them. They want to know who killed him and why.

Debbie Duncan said she really didn’t want a dog; her children were grown, and she was ready to have a life free of responsibility. Copper was a puppy who was going to be taken to the pound because he was unwanted. She took pity on him and took the pup to spare him from an uncertain fate. Rural shelters often have high kill rates due to the growing number of unwanted pets and few willing adopters.

Shortly after she took him in, Copper quickly became ill, and the vet diagnosed him with canine parvovirus, which is often deadly. She tended him through three exhausting days and nights, keeping him hydrated with oral syringes of Pedialyte electrolyte solution. To her surprise, he survived the illness, and she discovered that they’d bonded, becoming inseparable after that life-threatening experience.

A friendly presence in the Hager Road community, Copper’s visits were enjoyed by neighbors as he made his daily rounds. Sometime on February 18, Copper went out for his normal run in the area and didn’t come home. His family went to social media to post his photo and offer a reward for his safe return. He was still missing on March 19. Mid-morning on March 20, Copper’s body was found in a field approximately 50 yards from his home, the victim of a single shot from a small-caliber firearm.

“We’d been up and down this road a hundred times, and he wasn’t there,” said Duncan. “It was about 12:30 p.m. when my daughter was coming to my house, and we were going to distribute flyers about him being missing and the reward. Katherine was driving and saw him just inside the fence. She stopped and yelled for him, and he didn’t respond. She called me and told me she found him, and he was unresponsive, across the road lying in the field. My heart just sank, and I ran across the road. There was a little blood on his nose and mouth and on his side. We didn’t know right then, but he also had blood on the other side where the bullet had gone completely through him.

Duncan said Copper’s body was stiff, and he’d been dead for a while. A neighbor across the road was home, saw her crying, and helped the woman carry the dog to her yard.

It is assumed that he was shot elsewhere, and Copper’s body was placed where it was found, as there was no blood found pooled under his body on the ground at the scene, and no gunshots were heard. It was a small comfort to his family that there was little blood found on him at the wound site or elsewhere, indicating that the single shot might have taken his life quickly and he didn’t suffer before he died.

Duncan said she’d visited most of the neighbors on Hager Road. She got the same answers at each home: nobody had heard anything like gunshots, nobody had seen or heard Copper during the time he was missing, and they were very sorry to hear that he’d been killed.

“We’ve had him here for about two years and never had any problems or complaints about him from anyone,” she said. “It was his habit to go running through the fields and woods. Neighbors farther down the road have dogs, and he would go visit them. They’d play together, no problems.

“About six months ago, he got hurt, and the vet thought he might have gotten hit by a car or something. A couple of weeks ago, he came home and had injuries again. Judging from the size of it and underneath his side, it seemed like someone might have kicked him several times.”

Several friends and neighbors shared stories of how Copper loved riding in cars with his family, that he was a thief of towels from the bathroom to hide or roll on, how he could run in the woods or fields for hours and would just lie down where he was to take a nap when he was tired. All agreed that Copper was a sweet-natured boy with a playful temperament, gentle with children, a happy-go-lucky dog that didn’t deserve the fate he received.

The family’s grandchildren came home on March 20 to hear the news that their energetic playmate had been killed and were heartbroken.

Duncan’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Williamson, shared some favorite memories of Copper when he would ride along with Duncan to and from Elizabeth’s school.

“Copper was a big part of my life,” she said. “He would go with my grandma to pick me up, and he would bark and shake in excitement. When she would drop me off, he would howl like he didn’t want to leave me. We would go to the dog park and have fun. People at my school knew him from his howling. My friends loved him, too.”

Duncan said Copper would hang out of the window and bark to her granddaughter. Sometimes he would whine and cry until she got in the car, and then he would jump in the back to give her kisses. After the kisses, he would jump back into the front seat to hang out the window. Going for rides in the car was his favorite thing.

A neighbor sent Duncan a Facebook message when she heard Copper had been killed:  “So sorry to hear about your boy! My family will be devastated to hear this — we loved your baby! He hunted with my husband in the woods this whole season! He visited almost every morning, lying under the tree stand. My husband got quite a joy out of him but knew he belonged to someone because of his collar. I am so, so sorry you’re going through this.”

Copper is now buried under a tree near one of the fields he loved to run through. His family placed his security blanket, a towel he loved to steal, a favorite toy squirrel, a stick, and a ball with him. A headstone marks his grave. Duncan said it wouldn’t happen soon, but when they have the answers they seek regarding Copper’s death and their hearts have begun to heal from his loss, they would like to honor his memory by adopting a shelter dog.

The St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation of the shooting that took place on the moderately populated county road where children play and are picked up and dropped off by a school bus. If anyone has information regarding the shooting of the dog, they are asked to contact Deputy Kevin Davis with the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department or Lisa Brotherton-Barnes.

Lisa Brotherton-Barnes is a staff writer for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at lbarnes@dailyjournalonline.com.