7184 Molly Pitcher Hwy.
Shippensburg, PA 17257
14 March 2023
Hallie Hasel, DVM
Wyoming State Veterinarian
Wyoming Livestock Board Office
1934 Wyott Drive Cheyenne, WY 82002
Dear Dr. Hasel:
I am writing out of concern about “chicken roping” contests being held at Dewey’s Place in the town of Moorcroft, Wyoming. I have reviewed testimony from an observer and video images of the event taken on 18 February 2023. In my judgment, based on what I’ve seen and heard, what is going on here clearly constitutes animal abuse. The chickens used in the event are handled inappropriately and are no doubt traumatized by being dragged and/or suspended by their necks from a rope. This, according to a witness at the event, happened multiple times to individual birds during the course of the evening on February 18. No mammal or bird, not excluding human beings, appreciates having their necks stretched by a rope and their breathing impeded or stopped by compression of the airway. Strangulation, even when it does not result in death, is never an appropriate animal handling practice, most especially when it is done purely for entertainment purposes.
The chickens in the video are clearly frightened and anxious as they are being chased around by adult men and women, and some appear at times to be stunned and unresponsive, possibly due either to hypoxia from being choked or tonic immobility (“scared stiff”). As a veterinarian I am disgusted to see any animal handled in such a cruel fashion let alone one handled that way for the sake of amusement. Were this to be done at a similar venue to more familiar domesticated animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, or parrots I’m sure the overt cruelty would become apparent to even the patrons at Dewey’s.
Wyoming statute “6-3-1002 Cruelty to animals,” subsection (a) (ii.) specifies that a person can be charged with cruelty to animals if one “Knowingly carries an animal in a manner that poses undue risk of injury or death …” Certainly, dragging about or suspending an animal by the neck with a rope poses serious risk of injury or death by strangulation. I understand that Dewey’s Place is the only establishment in Wyoming that regularly sponsors such spectacles. I respectfully ask that you take immediate steps to address these gratuitous and unlawful acts of animal cruelty that tarnish the reputation and good name of Wyoming in the national media.
Sincerely,
George Bates, DVM