animal cruelty

It's been a year since a rural ranching community in Sublette County was cast into the international spotlight because of outrage over what many deemed "torture" of a wolf. The legalities and culture around the incident are still hot button issues.

It’s been almost a year since a Sublette County man ran down a wolf with a snowmobile and brought the live animal into a bar, sparking global outrage. One bill recently failed that would’ve banned the act of running a predator over with a vehicle on public land – something many wildlife advocates have called for.

Hunting – the word itself can immediately divide people. But what about wildlife killing contests? It’s surging in some states within our region while others have outlawed it.

Wyoming lawmakers officially advanced a bill that attempts to prevent a repeat of the inhumane treatment of a wolf in Sublette County earlier this year. But they didn’t choose to outlaw what many consider a key part of the incident: running a wolf over with a snowmobile.

A draft bill is taking form to change Wyoming’s treatment of predator laws in response to an alleged wolf abuse incident in Sublette County. As written, it won’t outlaw the practice of running over predators with a snowmobile, much to many wildlife advocate’s dismay.

After a Sublette County man allegedly tortured a wolf, a state-appointed working group was formed to examine Wyoming’s predator policies. They met for the first time and began to craft language in hopes of preventing similar incidents.

For weeks, wolf advocates from across the country planned to drive through Daniel, Wyoming to raise awareness after a local man brought a muzzled wolf into a bar and later killed it earlier this year. When the day came on Sunday, a throng of locals came out and only a handful of out-of-state advocates. The day was peaceful, but tense.

Wyoming author C.J. Box has penned more than 30 novels, many focusing on a popular, fictional game warden. In order to write the books, he’s extensively researched Wyoming’s wildlife culture and management, and he has some thoughts on the Sublette County wolf incident. Namely, he said it doesn’t represent Wyomingites.

Outrage and fallout continues after a man brought a muzzled and leashed wolf into a bar in Sublette County. Hatred from both those protecting him and those condemning him has fallen on the backs of those who had nothing to do with it.

Roughly half a million dairy calves were transported from seven states in the upper U.S. to calf-rearing operations in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas in 2022, according to an investigation conducted by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), creating potential health risks for animals and people.