Correction: This story was updated on Dec. 3, 2024 to reflect the accurate name of the livestock disease testing facility. It's the 'Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory' not the 'Wyoming State Veterinarian Laboratory.'
A Wyoming lawmaker thinks the state dropped the ball with ranchers this fall.
Rep. Bob Davis (R-Baggs) is proposing legislation after hearing a rancher testify this fall to the Legislature’s Agriculture, State, Public Lands & Water Resources Committee about her experience working with the state to identify and contain an anthrax outbreak earlier this year.
You might remember the cattle anthrax outbreak in Elk Mountain in late summer. At least 50 cows across three ranches died from the virtually unheard of disease in the U.S.
One of the hardest hit were Joyce and Bug Menke. They lost at least 30 cows, and Joyce even thinks she got the disease.
They remembered opening up one of the dead cows this summer, before they knew what was killing the herd.
“We both go, ‘Oh, wow, this is nothing we have ever seen before,’” Joyce said. “It had this, like, bloody tapioca pudding.”
Shortly after, the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory diagnosed it as anthrax – a disease not seen in Wyoming in at least 50 years. State and public agencies scrambled to inform the public about the disease.
“They did everything that they felt was necessary to keep a handle on it,” said Davis.
Davis said it was in the aftermath of containing the disease where the state dropped the ball – leaving ranchers, like the Menkes, hanging.
“There was no follow-up of, ‘What's next? Is there any follow-up investigation? Is there any protocol?,’” Davis said. “No. We just go back to normal.”
Now Davis is writing a bill that’d enforce that follow-up.
“We, the state, I think has to be a little more proactive in there with the reassurances,” Davis said. “Can we say that, ‘Oh, this will never happen again?’ Absolutely not.”
But Davis said the state could at least listen to ranchers, even just to validate their experiences, because he said losing dozens of cows is a “catastrophic loss.” Not only financially, but emotionally too.
“I mean, I don't know about Joyce, but a lot of my cows got names,” Davis said. “I'm sure some of her cows have names. So it can be pretty tight knit.”
He said the Menkes’ experience is what prompted him to take action and write a bill. He’s drafting it now and will let the Menkes preview it first. It’ll be presented to the Legislature this winter for consideration.
