DENVER -- A Denver man accused of tearing off the head of a live duck at a hotel in Minnesota has been put on paid leave from his job as a federal health agency auditor.

Scott D. Clark, 26, faces a felony animal cruelty charge in St. Paul.

A spokesman for the Office of Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Clark was in St. Paul last week on government business. He has worked for the agency for one year.

Clark has been suspended with pay from his $56,000-a-year job, pending the outcome of the animal-cruelty case in Minnesota.

Authorities said Clark chased a duck swimming in a pond of a hotel lobby, cornered it and ripped off its head. Police say he told onlookers that he was hungry and was going to eat the duck.

The incident was reported at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

"It sounds like there was quite a bit of alcohol involved," police Sgt. John Wuorinen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Clark told police that he worked for the federal government and he would "have the officers' jobs" when it was all over, according to a complaint filed by police.

He faces a maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted. He has been released on $10,000 bail.

The duck was one of eight specially trained waterfowl the hotel keeps in the pond in the lobby. They cost about $400 each, according to the hotel's general manager.

The Denver Post reported Wednesday that Clark was cited last year for illegally killing a turkey in Missouri. He paid a $168 fine in that case.

Clark has not returned calls from the media asking for comment on his case.