A Montana woman who shot and skinned a Siberian husky she mistook for a wolf on a hunting trip, and then posted the gruesome pictures on social media, has sparked public outrage – and a police investigation.
Amber Rose Barnes, 36, of Miller City, faced swift backlash after she bragged about the kill on Facebook.
"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 #firstworld #onelesspredatorMT," she wrote above five photos of her posing with the bloodied pooch.
In one picture, the skinned husky is sprawled out on her flatbed truck as she smiles broadly, stroking the pup's lifeless head with her right hand and clutching her rifle with her left.
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It didn’t take long for readers to respond to the shocking blunder and inform Barnes that she had bagged man's best friend – not a wolf.
"Amber Rose here hunted, shot, AND SKINNED a HUSKY.. not a wolf, an obvious #HUSKY," an irate Twitter user pointed out.
One critic dubbed her the "Montana dog butcher" and another called her a "psychopath."
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release stating that on Sept. 23 a local had picked up 11 husky and shepherd mix dogs that had been abandoned in the Doris Creek area of Flathead National Forest about 60 miles south of Glacier National Park – the same area where Barnes was hunting.
Animal Control later located more dogs in the area.
"During this investigation, we were advised through Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks that one of the dogs may have been shot," the release says. "The person who is believed to have shot the dog has been identified. The case is under investigation."
But in a subsequent Facebook post, Barnes dug in and insisted she acted in self-defense.
"This animal was growling howling and coming at me like it was going to eat me," she wrote. "Yes, I made a mistake because I did think it was a hybrid wolf pup but I was not aware of a [sic] 19 dogs being dropped 11 miles into the wilderness either way yes I would still have shot it because it was aggressive and coming directly for me!"
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She also claimed she had obtained the license necessary to hunt wolves prior to the trip. Barnes urged her critics to remove their posts slamming her.
"There are no charges…against me as I did NOT break any laws!!! I’m not a cruel individual just…killing people’s pets!" the post reads.
The plea for public understanding was not well received.
By Tuesday morning, Barnes had deleted the controversial Facebook posts and set her account to private.
Meanwhile, police are trying to track down the people who dumped the dogs in the forest. Many of them were infected with parvovirus, which can be deadly if untreated, according to authorities.
