United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150, Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
Phone: 757-678-7875 • FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org • info@upc-online.org

March 22, 2023

Megan Degenfelder
WY State Superintendent of Public Instruction
122 West 25th Street, Suite E200
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Via Email: askthesuperintendent@wyo.gov

Dear Ms. Degenfelder:

I am writing to you about a situation involving children that I hope you can prevent from recurring.

For the past nine years, a bar & grill called Dewey’s Place in Moorcroft in Crook County has hosted a “chicken roping contest.” It consists of inebriated adults hanging and swinging chickens bound with cords around their necks and often their feet and wings, as documented here:

• Urge Wyoming Officials to Oppose Unlawful Chicken Roping Contest

In addition to roping the chickens, some of whom are roped repeatedly to the point of immobility and possible death, the atmosphere is alcoholic, filled with cigarette smoke, hollering adults and blaring music. This mayhem is conducted at night and includes children of varying ages both boys and girls.

This animal-abusing entertainment includes child abuse. Children are being subjected to deliberate animal cruelty for the sake of a heartless adult pleasure and to desensitize the children’s feelings toward suffering creatures. If you look at the photo at the bottom of the document above, you will see that the children watching this spectacle are not smiling or laughing: they appear disturbed, as anyone with empathy and a conscience must be, observing men and women in menacing postures and costumes towering over small, three-to-four-pound birds at their booted feet, hurting and harming the birds for fun.

One child can be heard in the video yelling: “You’re probably killing that poor bird.”

I respectfully urge you as Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction to intervene on behalf of Moorcroft’s children - their mental, emotional and developmental wellbeing - to prevent them from attending or participating in “chicken roping contests” in Wyoming.

I realize that you are not in a position to prohibit the chicken roping contest, which violates WY § 6-3-1002. Cruelty to animals: (iii) Knowingly carries an animal in a manner that poses undue risk of injury or death. However, I am hopeful that you can prevent the children from legally attending the event should it be reenacted in Moorcroft or anywhere else in Wyoming. Meanwhile, we are making an effort to stop that from happening.

Thank you for your attention. Whatever you can do will be deeply appreciated. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
12325 Seaside Road, PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Office: 757-678-7875
Email: Karen@UPC-online.org

 

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