A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agent arrested three men for alleged cruelty to animal charges in Sabine Parish.

Sgt. Harvey Pearce arrested Cole Sattler, 21, of Belmont, on Oct. 19, Hayden Spann, 25, of Pleasant Hill, on Oct. 19, and Joshua Rivers, 29, of Zwolle, on Oct. 23 for aggravated cruelty to animals. The men were also cited for illegally hunting opossum.

Sgt. Pearce began his investigation on Oct. 17 when he received a complaint about an animal cruelty video circulating on social media. The video was taken on Oct. 14, 2023 near Many and showed Rivers driving a truck at night with his headlights on illuminating an opossum in a field with Sattler kicking and stomping the opossum to death and Spann recording the event.

Sgt. Pearce booked the subjects in to the Sabine Parish Detention Center.

Aggravated cruelty to animals brings a $5,000 to $25,000 fine and one to 10 years in jail. Illegally hunting opossums carries a $250 to $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.