SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said they are investigating the death of a moose on the side of a highway, and the person responsible for stealing its antlers.
Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday they are investigating to try and figure out who stole from the dead moose. Department officials said it could turn into a criminal case.
Jeremy Pratt said he was driving along Highway 27 in the Valley when he and the driver in front of him both hit a moose. Pratt said it was alive, but suffering. As an avid hunter, Pratt said he knew how to kill it humanely. But, he called police first.
He said while he was on the phone with law enforcement, another officer showed up and shot the moose himself.
"He shot it in the back of the shoulder, clipped the top of its lung, it was having trouble breathing, let it sit there for another five minutes before he put a bullet through its neck and it took another three minutes for it to die," said Pratt.
Law enforcement has the right to kill animals after they have been hit by cars. Citizens, however, do not have that right -- they need permission from Fish and Wildlife.
Pratt did the right thing by calling the police. He said he drove back the next day to discover someone else had not -- the antlers and some of the moose meat were missing.
"I was very mad because that could have filled my freezer and I could have salvaged every piece of meat off of it," said Pratt.
KREM 2 News took Pratt's complaint to Fish and Wildlife officials who said they are investigating who made off with the antlers and meat.
