A legislative working group on Tuesday drafted fortifications that tweak and clarify penalties regarding treatment of the state’s predators. The actions come in the aftermath of worldwide outrage over a Wyoming man who only received a citation after he ran down, muzzled and paraded a live wolf in a Daniel bar.
The Treatment of Predators Working Group, which consists of lawmakers, wildlife officials and stakeholders, zeroed in on two Wyoming statutes with the intention of prohibiting the prolonged suffering of predators. The group drafted language that would make it illegal to allow taken animals to suffer or live unduly before dispatching them.
“The fundamental goal here is to try to change behavior and to stop this right in its tracks, and I think we’re getting closer,” said group member Sen. Mike Gierau (D-Jackson).
The group did not hear from the public during Tuesday’s meeting in Lander. But it has received much written feedback, Chair Rep. Liz Storer (D-Jackson) said.
Comments, Storer said, have mainly emphasized two points. The paramount concern is one of animal welfare and the practices people believe represent mistreatment of animals. The second is frustration over the lack of fair chase demonstrated by running down an animal in a snowmobile, possessing that live animal and putting it on public display.
“There has been a pretty significant outcry about the events that took place earlier this year,” she said. “It’s our job really to see if there’s anything we can do to address that.”
(Storer also serves as the President and CEO of the George B. Storer Foundation, which is a financial supporter of WyoFile.)
Global repudiation
On Feb. 29, Daniel resident Cody Roberts hit a live wolf with a snowmobile, muzzled the injured animal and took it to a bar, where it was videotaped and photographed, before killing it.
Roberts admitted his actions to a Game and Fish game warden, and was cited and fined $250 for illegal possession of a warm-blooded animal. When the incident was publicized about a month later, it spread like wildfire and provoked fierce and widespread condemnation and a boycott of Wyoming. The state temporarily halted tourism promotion as a result.
Critics complained the fine was woefully inadequate given the cruel nature of the behavior. They also argued pursuing predators via snowmobile is unfair and inhumane.
Wyoming’s animal cruelty laws don’t apply to predators like wolves, according to Game and Fish. The practice of running down predators using snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles meanwhile, is legal in Wyoming.
Wyoming officials have joined the chorus of repudiation, but say state laws prevented steeper penalties for Roberts. That’s where the working group comes in.
The Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee created the working group in May “to look at a few issues, mainly [an] enhanced penalty for having a live wolf,” according to Chair Rep. Sandy Newsome (R-Cody), who introduced the idea.
Along with a handful of legislators, the group includes Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Brian Nesvik, Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director Doug Miyamoto, a representative from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, Wyoming Stock Growers Association representative Jim Magagna and Wyoming Wildlife Federation representative Jessi Johnson.
One step at a time
When the group met Tuesday, members made it clear that they were not there to put livestock protection, hunting or predator management on trial. What happened in Daniel, they stressed, had nothing to do with any of those.
“The activity that gave rise to this … it was not hunting and was not predator management,” Nesvik said.
Current law allows people to kill predatory animals — which also include coyotes, raccoons, skunks and stray cats — without a license. Hunters, ranchers or others are allowed to use any “flying machine, automotive vehicle, trailer, motor propelled wheeled vehicle, or vehicle designed for travel over snow” to do so.
Animal cruelty is a criminal offense under Wyoming’s criminal code, though the laws appear to be written to address domestic animals, not wild animals. Animal abuse statutes exempt predatory animals from animal cruelty.
Members decided first to address the behavior of keeping an injured animal alive with changes to ensure that taken animals are quickly and humanely killed.
“The issue is the mistreatment of a live animal,” Magagna said. If a person injures or takes a predatory animal, he said, there should be requirements that he or she makes good-faith efforts to quickly end its suffering.
After wrestling with language, the group proposed tweaking Game and Fish regulations on taking predatory animals to mandate that a person who injures or disables an animal by use of a ground-based vehicle shall immediately make a good-faith effort to kill the animal. The group also opted to address the predator exemption in the animal cruelty statute, and inch up some fines and penalties.
Next up
The second big issue, the actual method of taking an animal via snowmobile, “I think that’s more thorny and I think that’s complicated but I do think that is worth looking at,” Nesvik said.
Other members echoed that. Storer said there have been many calls to outlaw the method completely, but ranchers employ the practice to protect their livestock.
“That doesn’t necessarily sit well with me, that method of take,” Johnson added, “but I do understand the need for it on the agriculture side of stuff.”
However, the working group only agreed to draft language that would address “prolonged suffering,” not the use of vehicles to kill predators. It will ask for public and agency feedback and will review later in the summer.
In a letter to the group, Gov. Mark Gordon encouraged “narrow, focused conversations on wanton animal cruelty. Punish unacceptable behavior and deter acts of animal cruelty without interfering with the ability to manage predators. Any effort should uphold Wyoming’s values of private property rights and our well-established heritage of conscientious management of our remarkable wildlife.”
He also urged them to resist being influenced by the threats to boycott Wyoming or the mischaracterization of Wyoming people.
CLARIFICATION: This story was updated to clarify what draft language the committee chose to draft. -Ed.
“That doesn’t necessarily sit well with me, that method of take,” Absolutely a correct statement, no need to go any further, no need to think that anyone, including ranchers, running down an animal to take is anything other than wrong. Believe me, Cody Roberts was not a rancher protecting a herd, there was no domestic livestock grazing there.
Take this barbaric method out of the loop and let the ranchers and others that feel the “need” to control predators find something that is effective but a bit more civilized. Period
A grown-up child who paraded his trophy before patrons of a bar he frequents has brought to light a “sport” that I find abhorrent. That it was probably invented in WY is not surprising, winters are long there. Running into solid objects with your $15,000 sled is not the only crazy thing about the action. There was a glee in that behavior that should give everyone pause. If indeed this is commonplace, then WYO, you have a problem.
It is cruel to wild animals to allow poisoning, trapping, and running down with machinery, to achieve the total eradication of all predators including stray cats.
What worries me is the values and the moral compass of the people who raised that man-child. What worries me is the “sport” that has given WY a severe black eye will not be addressed and reigned in because it is, in fact, commonplace amongst the ag community. What?
All this further raises the question of the business model that requires a predator-free environment on our public lands.
If your herd size is so large that you cannot feed it on your holdings, or hire enough cowboys to protect it, then I am sorry, but I do not feel obliged to guarantee its safety on the public dole. I will not look aside as the resource is being abused.
Nor do I feel obliged to look askance at the deviant behavior of anyone. If that is the way boys are being boys in Wyoming, then you all deserve every lump you are getting.
Tell Governor Mark Gordon he can be assured I will boycott the state of Wyoming along with my family and close friends.
The hearing yesterday was thin gruel. Not surprising, given the subcommittee’s makeup.
My take is that this is by design, I assume so that the minimum can be proposed to placate the public – “Look, we done something.” The rural sport of running down carnivores with a snowmobile is widespread in Wyoming. This is something I have yet to hear acknowledged by the TRW or its subcommittee.
Several dozen current and past presidents of the Wildlife Society, the scientific society which represents wildlife professionals, wrote a letter to Mark Gordon on April 12 2024 urging that the statutory gap exempting wild carnivores from protections in Wyoming’s animal cruelty statutes be plugged. On present form, that request will be ignored.
Two revealing comments made during the hearing.
Mr. Magagna, executive VP of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, stated that the WSGA has been approached in the past by snowmobilers looking for ranches where predators, largely coyotes, are perceived to be a problem. What he did not say was whether the WSGA connected members with snowmobilers who enjoy running down wildlife.
The other was from Brian Nesvik, head of WGFD. It was the first time I heard that the game warden who issued the $250 fine to Cody Roberts had the option of requiring Roberts to appear in court. While it might have been the game warden’s decision alone, it would be interesting to know whether he sought advice on the matter from WGFD management. Given the situation he was presented with, I find it hard to credit the warden decided to wing it, not seek advice, and write the citation.
I guess nobody is going to put in a FOIA request to WGFD for all emails in Feb 2024 from and to this game warden about the Danial wolf.
I like the fair chase issue of running down a wolf with a snowmobile.
So that’s a bad thing but the issue of transplanting wolves from the Youkon that are twice the size as the gray wolf that previously inhabited north America. So it is all OK to have supper wolves here that are chasing down ELK and DEER in the deep winter snows and thrill kill a whole herd that the original gray wolves weren’t big and bad enough to do. The transplanting af the Youcon wolf was done by democrats in Clintons administration where they knew if the people didn’t have Elk and Deer they wouldn’t need guns… yep it all leads back to libitard politics!
I watched the meeting via Zoom yesterday and was disappointed that the working group did not address legislatively prohibiting harassing, pursuing, injuring and killing predators for ‘sport and recreation’ with motorized vehicles like snowmobiles and ATVs. While I laud the group’s efforts to increase penalties, what the public wants is the end of “ ‘yote whacking”. That practice is cruel, brutal and indefensible.
As a life member and ardent supporter of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF) I simply can’t believe what I’m reading. Surely Jess Johnson who represents WWF was misquoted in the article when it states that she “understand(s) the need for it on the agriculture side of stuff.” The “need” she is referring to is the practice of running a helpless and defenseless predator with a snowmobile to the point of sheer exhaustion and when the animal can simply run no further, it is killed in horrific ways. It appears to me that based on Ms. Johnson’s statement, that the WWF Board of Directors (BOD) must be in bed with Magagna and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and supports the practice on running down predators with snowmobiles and killing them. Does the WWF BOD supports these heinous and reprehensible acts of cruelty to wildlife species? If so WWF should remove “Wildlife” from the organization’s name.
As a past supporter (and former board member years ago), the same thoughts occurred to me when I read this. I doubt she was misquoted. Ms. Johnson made several statements of the same vein during the last legislative session.
While the stock growers (Magagna) certainly deserve a seat at the table, so does a representative of wildlife. There doesn’t appear to be one. I expected a stronger response regarding “the method of take”.
Excellent article, Katie. It appears TOO balanced to me, so I suspect you got it about right. In a rancher-led legislature, any law against any method of killing predators starts out with very little support. Nonetheless, the term “animal cruelty” has a real meaning and that incident did make many people outside the mountain west think that Wyoming must be filled with evil animal torturers when that penalty was so small.
A part of the problem is that ranchers graze their herds on public land. Therefore, the predators that trim the wild herds on that land get easily confused as to what to hunt. Fences keep predators out, but nary a soul is in favor of fencing ALL of that land, because the wild herds would be blocked out too. We need to stop going along with the ranchers by making that land cheap to lease and therefore prioritizing the rancher’s herds instead of enhancing tourism by emphasizing land for the wild herds (AND their corresponding predators).
I can’t believe we are still having this debate in Wyoming when this has been mostly settled in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and other states.
Thanks for clarifying the stands on this, Katie.
The reluctance to outlaw this type of behavior toward predators is mind addling.
Unfortunately the predators working group looks like they are trying to pull a move from the politicians playbook. How to make it look like you are do something, while not do anything.
Boycot unethical WYOMING until humane hunting of wild animals can be written into law!!!!
Amen kathleen. I so love Wyoming, but will not spend a red cent there till they can come up with LAWS of humane hunting of wild animals. What is really sad is these inhumane people are hurting the good people (restaurant owners, hotels, SHOPS) in WY who do not support cruel behavior to animals. FYI — my husband and I are good tippers (25%-30%) because we know the people in WY work hard to provide quality service to tourist and as I said in the opening sentence — I LOVE WYs beauty and wildlife.
Good grief, ONE dumbell did ONE stupid thing…..the impact will never be noticed except perhaps the lambs and calves that survive. More animal lives were involved. The guy handled the situation stupidly, but the fact is many other animals ill not be torn apart and killed because that wolf was killed.
Wold predation accounts for 0.03% of livestock loss. It is a complete non issue. Weather, lambing and calving problems, and disease (much of which is controlled by a healthy wolf population because in those rare instances when wolves do predate livestock, they only prey on the sick, which prevents contagion) account for more than 99% of livestock losses. Yet the irrational hatred and fear of wolves captures the imaginations and mythology of ranching culture. And ironically, all those animals will die anyway. The ranchers are just afraid someone else will kill them before they get a chance to.
What geographic area does the 0.03% of livestock loss refer to? If it includes the entire country, the vast majority of which has no wolves, this statement may be technically correct but is very misleading. A more accurate figure would specify only where both wolves and livestock are actually present. For example, what is the rate of livestock loss for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?
Do you by chance have stats for the amount of disease? The most shocking thing about this wolf issue is the lack of conern for the families that are negatively impacted, where is the concern for those food producers who are forced out of business? It doesn’t seem fair to make one group of people pay for the entertwainment of other folks.
Marion, not sure what group you are talking about being entertained here. Confusing at best. But, there have been no ranchers forced out of business because of livestock depredation. The federal tax payers subsidize any ranchers that have grazing allotments on federal land with the ridiculously low grazing fees that are charged.
Yes, we have spend large amounts of $$ to reintroduce wolves and the continued management of them, but had man not eradicated them in the first place, and lets all face facts here, the eradication was done simply to promote human objectives, we would not be having this conversation because hopefully we would have learned to live in harmony with all.
I think the biggest takeaway has been how widespread this behavior is, and how there’s an entire culture of sadistic wolf hatred and torture in Wyoming. The fact that the legislature still won’t been the gruesome practice of whacking demonstrates the cultural attachment to this hate. This behavior is going on constantly in Wyoming and has been for decades; this is just the first time that the civilized world found out about it.
So with your thought process, Charles Manson only did one horrific act so let’s give everybody else a pass?
The bar that permitted this cruel behavior should also lose their liquor license.
I have not done any perusing of the statue myself, but… according to another news agency based in Wyoming the maximum penalty for illegaly harboring a warm blooded mammal is not $250. It could carry up to a $1000 fine or six months in jail. It sounds like there is some discretion that is given to the Warden that writes the citation. If this is the case the hands of the Sublette County Attorney were likely tied. I don’t know if the offense is worth burdening the people with the cost of keeping the offender incarcerated for six months, but perhaps a decision that should be up to the judicial branch is in the hands of a Warden. A position that is a peace officer, but holds the authority to enforce a very narrow section of law.
This incident is turning out to be quite the Litmus Test for Wyoming values all around…
Yes! Good point. When do tradtion and ranching values translate as cruelty. I was shocked to hear it was ok to run a “stray cat” down with a snowmobile too.
Heartbreaking. WY used to represent the best of us.