WARNING: The video below is graphic in nature and shows an animal in distress. Reader discretion is advised.
A video showing a father and son killing a hibernating black bear and her cubs in Alaska last April is turning heads.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety released the video after a public records request from the Humane Society of the United States.
The footage shows Andrew Renner, the father, and Owen Renner, his son, killing and butchering a hibernating black bear and her two shrieking cubs at point blank range on Esther Island, Alaska.
Two days later the duo returned to the scene and destroyed evidence. Two weeks later Andrew Renner presented the adult carcass as a legal kill.
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However, the killing was recorded as part of a study being conducted by the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. A motion activated camera had been placed at the den site for the study.
Andrew Renner plead guilty to eight counts, including unlawfully killing and transporting the bears and was sentenced to five months in jail with two months suspended. His hunting license was revoked for 10 years and he was fined and forfeited property.
Owen Renner plead guilty to four counts. He was sentenced to 30 days of suspended jail time and will be required to perform community service and take a hunter safety course. His hunting license has been suspended for two years.
According to the news release the Humane Society wanted to acquire the video to show the sheer brutality and cruelty involved in killing a mother bear and her cubs – an action that could soon be allowed on national preserve lands in Alaska.
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