A family photo shows Max Rose with Seymour, his Jack Russell terrier puppy, who was shot by a hunter. (Nick Rose)

A family pet that helped a boy through cancer recovery in Quadra Island, B.C., was shot dead and police are asking the person responsible to come forward.

Nick Rose said his family has been traumatized after their 14-week-old puppy was shot by a hunter Saturday morning.

Rose was cutting wood with his 12-year-old son, Max, when their Jack Russell terrier, Seymour, ran out onto the road, barking at local hunters passing by.

"He was probably trying to lick the barrel of the gun when the guy pulled the trigger," Rose told CBC News on Monday.

Nick Rose, right, says his son, Max, is really upset after the family pet dog was shot and killed Saturday morning. (CBC)

"We called him, and he wouldn't come, wouldn't come, and the hunters kept walking, and they had just gotten out of sight, maybe 50 yards away, and boom — shotgun rang out," Rose said Monday.

"I bolted to the street to see my little four-month-old puppy lying at the side of the road, quivering with half his head blown off, and this miscreant of a human being standing there looking, and he just bolted off into the bush in the direction of his house," he said.

"I screamed, 'What have you done you sick bastard. You've shot our puppy.' …. After that we were just distraught and crying on the street," said Rose.

Rose said Max, who has battled cancer and still faces lasting disabilities, is devastated by his dog's death, as it was a replacement for a pet that helped him through cancer treatment.

"He [Max] went from being depressed … to a state where he's a relatively healthy young boy and enjoying his life," the father said.

Quadra Island RCMP said Monday they had spoken to the man who allegedly shot the pet.

"We have been in touch with who our suspect is," Cpl. Craig Peterson told CBC News. "He states he's going to come forward. Hopefully, he will do the right thing and do that."

Police said they would recommend the Crown lay criminal charges, including dangerous use of a firearm and endangering an animal, Peterson said.