A Montana woman has come under fire after posting photos of a skinned Husky she shot and killed after mistaking it for a wolf.
Amber Rose provoked widespread ire and condemnation after posting graphic photos of the carcass of a Siberian Husky she killed on a bear hunt, which she identified as a ‘wolf 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,” Rose wrote, “was a great feeling to text my man and say I just smoked a wolf pup. #firstwolf #onelesspredatorMT.”
Huskies are more visually similar to their canid cousins than many other breeds of dog, however, they are noticeably smaller: full grown Huskies are 20-23.5 inches tall typically weigh 35-65 lbs, while a gray wolf stands between 26-32 inches at the shoulder and weighs between 50-110lbs. The size discrepancy could explain why Rose identified it as a juvenile rather than an adult, but Huskies also have a broader snout and various minute differences in coloration and build when compared to wolves.
The incident took place outside of Martin City, Montana. The local Sheriff’s Office, Animal Control and Fish and Game agencies are currently investigating, although as of now there is no indication that Rose will face any legal repercussions, although some locals and many online observers are up in arms.
“It’s like, how could you ever mistake a husky like that for a wolf,” Rebecca Harding, a resident of Green Hills, Montana, told MTN News. “She’s poaching. She’s hurting our hunting community by posting that she went out looking for one specific animal and shooting a different one.”
Rose defended herself from the backlash in a subsequent post, arguing that she had received a wolf tag before her hunt began and was authorized to kill a wolf if she encountered one, although she admitted that she “made a mistake.”
Rose also claimed that she had made the kill in self defense, stating that the Husky was “aggressive” and “coming directly for me.”