PUNTA GORDA — Charlotte County Sheriff’s Corrections Deputy First Class Garland Collins was responsible for reuniting a lost coon hound dog with its owner Sunday morning. Collins was working at the Work Release building at 7 a.m. when he observed a large white dog wandering around the exterior of the housing unit. As he cautiously approached the dog, he observed it was tame, friendly, and had a collar with a tag. He used a piece of twine to tie the dog to a sign post and then went inside to get a crate used in the Cell Dog program. The runaway dog was put inside the crate, given a blanket to lie on, plus food and water.

Collins then notified Sgt. Brian Susko, who was able to identify the owner from the dog tag number. He called owner Kevin Conley, who said he recently moved here from Connecticut and was at the Charlotte County Speedway the night before. Conley said his dog, Walker, jumped out of a window on his truck and he could not find him. Conley immediately went to the County Jail and was reunited with Walker. Conley asked if this was going to cost anything and Susko replied, “No, this is a community service.”