An Hopkins County woman shown shooting and killing a dog in a video surfacing on social media has been indicted on federal charges.
According to Davilyn Walston, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, Kristine Michelle Hicks, 51, of Cumby, has been charged with acting as an animal dealer without a license and four counts of wire fraud. She appeared in a federal court Monday.
Court documents show that in Dec. 2025, an investigation was opened into Hicks’ breeding facility, “Giant German Shepherds” after a video allegedly surfaced online of her tying a dog to a tree and shooting the animal three times, killing it. Investigators said that between June 2024 and Dec. 2025, Hicks operated a dog breeding and dog sales business in Hopkins County without a license.
Hicks’ indictment describes the animals’ living poor living conditions, which federal authorities described as “deplorable.” Most of the dogs required emergency care due to starvation, parasite-related illnesses, lack of veterinary care and immunizations, and inadequate shelter from environmental exposure, Walston said.
The indictment also alleges Hicks made fraudulent claims as to the parentage, health, and training of the dogs to inflate the sales price of the animals, often by thousands of dollars. Hicks also reportedly fraudulently claimed the dogs were of a certain temperament bred specifically to be trained as service animals.
“One such dog was sold to a paralyzed, bed-ridden, disabled veteran,” Walston said. “The dog was aggressive, drew blood several times, and had to be muzzled before any veterinary care.”
Hicks is also accused of fraudulently misrepresenting her animals to be registered by the American Kennel Club, while promising to provide paperwork as proof; reportedly, Hicks sold dogs that were of mixed breeds, randomly sourced from other litters and had diseases or were otherwise in an unhealthy state.