Outrage has erupted after a man struck a wolf with a snowmobile, taped the injured animal’s mouth shut, and brought it into a bar, prompting a proposal to amend Wyoming’s animal cruelty law. Currently, the law does not apply to people who legally kill wolves by intentionally running them over. The draft legislation, which is set to be reviewed by a legislative committee on Monday, would still allow people to intentionally run over wolves, but only if the animal is killed quickly, either upon impact or soon after.
Wyoming’s existing animal cruelty law does not cover predators like wolves. The proposed changes would require that anyone who hits a wolf that survives the impact must immediately make “all reasonable efforts” to kill it. However, the bill does not specify how a surviving wolf should be killed after it is intentionally struck.
The incident that occurred last winter in western Wyoming, where a wolf was struck and displayed in a bar, has reignited scrutiny over state policies regarding wolves. Wildlife advocates have expressed their discontent with the state’s reluctance to amend laws established after extensive negotiations that removed federal protection for the species.
According to Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, although the draft bill is under consideration, it likely wouldn’t bring significant changes. “Everybody is against torturing animals. There is not a person I’ve come across so far that has said, ‘Yes, I want to continue to do that,’” Combs noted on Friday.
The wolf, captured on camera lying on a bar floor in Sublette County, triggered calls for a boycott of Wyoming’s $4.8 billion-a-year tourism industry, which is heavily centered on Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks—prime wolf habitats close to where the incident occurred. However, these calls for boycott have had little effect, as Yellowstone is on track for one of its busiest summer seasons on record.
The man responsible for striking the wolf and subsequently killing it was issued a $250 ticket for illegal possession of wildlife but did not face harsher charges. Sublette County investigators reported that their efforts to move forward with the case have been thwarted by uncooperative witnesses. County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich stated on Friday that the investigation is ongoing, but he declined to offer further details.
The draft bill up for discussion on Monday proposes that a person who intentionally hits a wolf with a vehicle could be charged with felony animal cruelty if the wolf survives and the person does not kill it right away. There is no clear data on how often wolves in Wyoming are purposely run over—whether for a quick death or otherwise—as such killings are not required to be reported, and documented cases like the Sublette County event are rare.
This case has spotlighted Wyoming’s lenient regulations for wolf killings, the least restrictive among states where wolves are present. Wolves often prey on sheep, cattle, and game animals, making them unpopular in the state’s rural areas dominated by ranchers and hunters. State laws across the region aim to prevent the proliferation of wolves outside the mountainous Yellowstone ecosystem into areas where ranchers operate.
While wolves are federally protected in most of the U.S. as an endangered or threatened species, they are not in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, where they may be hunted and trapped under state laws. In Wyoming, wolves can be killed without limit in 85% of the state, excluding the Yellowstone region. Although the incident has drawn widespread condemnation, including from officials like Jim Magagna of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the state has been hesitant to implement laws that would prevent such maltreatment, regarding it as an isolated occurrence unrelated to broader wolf management policies.
