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Amber Rose Barnes: Outrage after woman who killed and skinned husky mistaking it for a wolf pup gets NO jail time

Amber Rose Barnes was given a 6-month deferred sentence, and is required to attend a hunting safety course

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT, DISCRETION ADVISED

KALISPELL, MONTANA: Amber Rose Barnes, who once boasted about killing and skinning a "wolf pup" that turned out to be a husky pup, reportedly pleaded no contest to animal cruelty. The female hunter, 36, of Martin City, Montana, subsequently received a six-month deferred sentence.

Barnes, as part of her punishment, is required to attend a hunting safety course and she will not be able to use her hunting rifle during this period. She was slapped with several charges in October after bragging about her kill the previous month on Facebook, where she claimed to have "smoked a wolf pup." The huntress faced quite the backlash at the time after people noticed she had actually killed a Siberian husky pup.

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'Yes I made a mistake'

Barnes had reportedly ventured into Flathead National Forest in Doris Creek, sixty miles south of Glacier National Park, looking for a black bear when she stumbled upon what she believed to be a wolf. She defended her actions in court. "During this time, safety was my top priority this animal was growling, howling, and coming at me like it was going to eat me," she said at the hearing. "Yes I made a mistake...either way yes I would still have shot it because it was aggressive and coming directly for me!" she added. Barnes wasn't charged with a hunting violation since "the incident did not involve an animal under the agency's jurisdiction," per The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. She sparked outrage on social media after posting a series of images of herself with the dead pup. "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," Barnes wrote alongside the photos.

'Big f***ing deal'

The graphic images show Barnes, who was reportedly accompanied by her partner Frank Tallent on the hunting trip in Montana's Flathead County, flaunting the skinned husky while grinning from ear to ear. The pair defended their actions at the time saying the kill was an act of self-defense while also admitting it was a mistake. Barnes' partner Frank Tallent responded to angry dog lovers with an expletive-laden rant after many called for his partner's arrest. He threatened violence but simultaneously conceded the incident was a bad look for the embattled hunting community. "Mistakes happen - big f***in' deal," the Montana man wrote in a lengthy post defending his lover, which has since been taken down. "Ya, my girlfriend was out hunting and shot a f *****g dog that was dumped out in the woods."

Officials later found the dead dog was one of nearly a dozen husky pups that had been abandoned in the woods. Many of them reportedly had parvovirus, which is a potentially fatal disease. Authorities investigated whether Barnes had a license to hunt wolves, which she claimed she did. It was later confirmed by The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks that she had indeed purchased the appropriate license. Wolf hunting is legal in Montana with a license. A hunter is allowed by law to kill or trap 20 wolves a season, per the Daily Mail.