[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Remember that Montana hunter who shot and killed a Siberian husky? Remember, she skinned the poor dog, and posted pics bragging about it on social media, loudly proclaiming she’d hunted down a wolf?!
Well, she just faced the consequences of her actions, and… honestly, she got off pretty damn easy considering she copped to committing a totally wanton and careless act of animal cruelty!!
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Perezcious readers may recall our reporting from back in September of last year on the story of Amber Rose Barnes. The Montana woman was out for a fall-season hunt looking to bag a black bear when she came up on what she thought was a wolf on an isolated trail. How did she mistake the much smaller dog for a wolf? Oh, she thought it was a baby!
As she explained on social media hours after the September 2022 shooting, Barnes bragged proudly about how she “smoked a wolf pup” while out on her own in the backwoods:
“So this morning I set out for a solo predator hunt for a fall black bear however I got the opportunity to take another predator wolf pup 2022 was a great feeling to text my man and say I just smoked a wolf pup. #firstwolf #onelesspredatorMT”
Then, as if the killing wasn’t enough, Barnes posted photos of the dead husky pup all over social media. She proudly posed and sat by the skinned animal as its lifeless corpse lay across the back of her truck. Gross!!!
Immediately Reddit sleuths spotted something was amiss and began digging further. As Barnes’ post went mega-viral, wolf experts and dog lovers alike pointed out the horrific truth: this woman hadn’t shot and killed a young wolf, but rather a SIBERIAN HUSKY! Again, the difference in size between the animals is HUGE. Someone with a hunting license should have known better.
In the court of public opinion she was fighting back hard! As you may recall, in Barnes’ initial late September Facebook flap over the dead dog, she claimed her firearm actions were completely above board and not illegal:
“I am human did I make a mistake thinking it was a hybrid wolf pup however there are no charges against me as I did NOT break any laws!!!”
Uh huh. But in actual court, she had to concede she absolutely broke the law. On Tuesday afternoon, TMZ reported Barnes went before a Montana judge on an animal cruelty charge and pleaded no contest to the allegations against her. In response, the judge gave her a six-month deferred sentence on the misdemeanor. Meaning no prison time.
Related: The Idaho Murder Trial Is A Long Ways Off, But The Accused Killer Isn’t Getting Away
Per the news org, Barnes must check off a list of legal to-do items before she’s allowed to hunt again. For one, she must take an online hunting safety class. Then, the judge also demanded she not have access to any hunting rifles for six months. Which sounds like a plan! Except, as the outlet notes, Montana’s hunting season doesn’t come around until fall. So a six month offseason hunting ban really isn’t a ban at all! Everyone is banned in the offseason!
If Barnes can complete those (super easy) tasks, the misdemeanor will be wiped from her record. Seems like a light punishment for somebody who has access to high-powered hunting rifles and apparently not enough common sense or outdoor knowledge to know what she should or shouldn’t be shooting?!?! Come on, now! Ban her from hunting for a full year at least. Jeez!!
What say U, Perezcious readers??
[Image via PBS News Hour/YouTube/Euan Cherry/WENN]
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