Colorado man charged with animal cruelty in deadly shooting of mama bear in Douglas County
A Douglas County man has been charged with animal cruelty in the deadly shooting of a bear earlier this year. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the shooting happened in July on unincorporated Douglas County land, right next to Castle Rock's Terrain neighborhood.
Neighbors say they frequently saw the mama bear and her two cubs.
"We kind of started to think of her as our neighborhood bear," Terrain resident Jeff Berta told CBS Colorado. "We named her Melanie."
On July 9, Berta heard the shots that ended the mama bear's life.
"We heard some loud noises, and we were out on our back porch and brought the binoculars out, and we saw CPW officers," Berta explained.
"They said someone illegally shot a bear," Douglas County resident Chad Schnuelle told CBS Colorado.
Schnuelle remembers that day too.
"The sheriff called me, and they asked if they could go on my land," Schnuelle said.
CPW responded after someone shot the mama bear. Wildlife officers put the bear down, tranquilized her cubs and took them to a rehab center.
"It was fairly disturbing to watch," Berta said.
Neighbors were outraged that the beloved bear had been killed.
"I'm sad. I'm angry. I do feel like there's a community member that's been taken away," Berta said. "I can't imagine harming an animal."
"To hear somebody did that was a little disappointing to me. I was upset," Schnuelle said.
But Schnuelle had no idea the alleged shooter was his neighbor, Calvin Lennberg, 37.
"He's a great guy. I mean, I've never had any problems with him," Schnuelle said. "To hear that, I'm a little shocked, actually."
After CPW's investigation, prosecutors charged Lennberg with aggravated animal cruelty, which is a felony defined in Colorado law as the torture, needless mutilation or needless killing of an animal.
The charge could lead to a sentence anywhere from probation to six years in prison.
"The charges you're telling me is a little concerning. It's like, wow," Schnuelle said. "I'd like to know more about really what the whole situation was."
"Let the process play out," Berta said. "If you did something wrong, then, you need to pay for it."
These neighbors hope the charges remind others to coexist with wildlife.
"Let's live amongst them. They were here before we were," Berta said.
"They're trying to survive just like we are," Schnuelle said. "When they took my chickens, I just kind of thought, 'Now, I got to change what I'm doing in order to live with the bears.'"
Schnuelle says, after run-ins with bears in the past, he has taken bear-proofing measures on his home and chicken coop.
Those measures have become extra important this summer, with a record number of bears being euthanized by CPW after drought conditions have pushed the hungry animals closer to humans.
"It's something that I would like to see more awareness on it. And, you know, how can we do better? How can we be better about minimizing the need to euthanize a bear?" Berta said.
CBS Colorado called and texted Lennberg, and even knocked on his door in hopes of getting comment, but never heard back.
It doesn't look like Lennberg has a criminal history.
Lenberg is due in court on Oct. 23 for his first appearance in this case.
