PETA asks for charges in Montana bear mauling

BILLINGS (AP) — Animal-rights advocates on Wednesday asked a Montana prosecutor to pursue criminal charges in the case of a Bozeman-area animal trainer fatally mauled by a pair of 500-pound captive brown bears.

Delcianna Winders with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said negligent manslaughter and criminal endangerment charges are warranted against Animals of Montana owner Troy Hyde.

Benjamin Cloutier, 24, was a trainer for the company, which provides captive-bred predators and other animals for photography shoots and motion pictures. He was killed in November while cleaning out the bears' pen with the animals still inside.

In a letter to Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert, Winders cited an investigation by federal safety officials who determined Cloutier's death could have been avoided if the bears had been kept in a separate enclosure while he cleaned their pen.

But Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin ruled the mauling an accident, and Lambert said he would not consider charges unless asked to do so by law enforcement.

Hyde said Wednesday he had not seen PETA's request for charges and had no further comment.

He has contested the violations alleged by the U.S. Department of Labor, which proposed $9,000 in fines for the company.