Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesCubby the bear is no longer resting in peace.
Charging that Troy Gentry got off too easy after killing a bear on the grounds of a wildlife preserve in 2004, an animal rights group just yesterday posted videos of the country singer slaying the animal.
Gee, thanks for that.
"Once you watch this video, you will see proof of how loathsome and revolting a human being can be," Steve Hindi, president of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, or SHARK, said in a statement.
SHARK won the right to post the inevitably controversial video after winning its lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which cited the Freedom of Information Act in demanding the government agency to release the footage.
In 2006, Gentry was fined $15,000 and forced to give the animal carcass back to the state of Minnesota after pleading guilty to falsely registering his kill as wild, when in fact he shot the bear (later identified as Cubby) with a bow and arrow within the confines of Sandstone National Wildlife Refuge.
SHARK says that it is posting the video now, four years after he was sentenced, because the group feels that Gentry wasn't punished enough the first time around.
At the time, Gentry apologized for breaking the law.
"I did participate in improperly tagging the animal I shot, without realizing the seriousness of what I was doing," the "Something to Be Proud Of" singer said in a statement. "For that, I am truly sorry. I relied on the experts around me for guidance, and I regret that today."
Ironically, Montgomery Gentry (bandmate Eddie Montgomery wasn't involved in the hunting incident) was honored with the Home Depot Humanitarian Award at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards for their good works—though the captive bear community may beg to differ.