Practice of ‘whacking’ requires authentic reform, and Wyoming need only look to Colorado and Minnesota as examples of agriculture- and hunting-oriented states with sound policies against running over animals
Washington D.C — Leaders of two national animal welfare groups expressed frustration at a newly proposed amendment to existing Wyoming law that permits the killing of wolves by vehicles, including snowmobiles.
“It is hard to believe that any serious-minded policy maker is hesitating in adopting a policy to ban running down and running over a living being with a snowmobile or a truck for the thrill of it,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Wyoming was the last state in the nation to adopt felony-level penalties for dogfighting, and it should not be the last state to outlaw the horror show of crushing an animal with a motorized vehicle.”
An unmistakable global outcry ensued earlier this year after Wyoming resident Cody Roberts plowed down a young female wolf, posthumously named Theia by the groups, and tortured her before killing the animal at a small-town watering hole. Since then, other footage of snowmobile-related torment of animals — sometimes known as “whacking” or “thumping” — has surfaced, including this video (graphic) of a snowmobiler repeatedly running over a coyote.
The draft legislation now being considered by some Wyoming policy makers and some key stakeholders would continue to allow intentional vehicle strikes on wolves but require the operator to make “all reasonable efforts” to kill any surviving wolf immediately. Failure to do so could lead to felony animal cruelty charges. (Wolves currently receive no animal-cruelty protections in the state.) Roberts faced minimal penalties with investigations into the incident stalling due to what officials said was a lack of witness cooperation.
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy are asking Wyoming lawmakers to reset their process and adopt a comprehensive ban on chasing down and running over animals with motorized vehicles, just as Colorado, Minnesota, and a number of other states have done. Animal Wellness Action has worked with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to introduce the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act at the federal level. U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Don Davis, D-N.C., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Troy Carter, D-La., introduced the bill in mid-September and it has already picked up additional cosponsors. A Senate bill will be introduced after the election recess.
More than 100 groups have already swung behind it, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. “The depraved treatment of a young female wolf in Wyoming has highlighted a disturbing subculture that uses vehicles to harass and kill iconic wildlife for sport,” said Dan Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. “As a society, we should be better, and we can be better.”
“What is happening now with the use of vehicles including snowmobiles as weapons to run over free roaming wildlife is simply recreational wildlife abuse,” said Elaine Leslie, Ph.D., former chief of biological services for the National Park Service. “Wyoming’s panel looking into this issue has been too timid, and I urge state lawmakers to take decisive action to eliminate this unthinkably cruel conduct everywhere in the state.”
Minnesota has prohibited chasing, striking, and killing animals with motorized vehicles since 1986. That law, in these last 38 years, has met with no objections from ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, or other stakeholders in wolf and coyote policies.
“Minnesota has more wolves than any other state in the lower 48 and is a snowmobiling mecca, so the application of the law is an important practical example of its universal social acceptance,” Pacelle said. “Colorado is an interior West state, and like Minnesota and Wyoming, it has a strong tradition of ranching and hunting. Like Minnesota’s law, Colorado’s law against whacking is not controversial with any stakeholders.”
He added, “Running over a wolf or a coyote with a snowmobile is an act of sadism, and anyone who commits this kind of malice is a threat to the well-being of other animals and even people.”