Yote whacking

WARNING: CONTAINS SENSITIVE/DISTURBING IMAGES

WHAT IS YOTE WHACKING?

Yote whacking is the killing of coyotes or wolves by running them down and running them over repeatedly with snowmobiles.

Despite being the subject of statewide, national and international outrage, yote whacking continues to be legal in the state of Wyoming, with no animal cruelty laws in place to protect wolves, coyotes and other predators* from torture or animal cruelty.

*Other animals that are considered predators in Wyoming include red foxes, raccoons, porcupines, skunks, jackrabbits, and domestic stray cats.

THE OVERALL ISSUE

Yote whacking has seen an increase in media coverage as a result of a recent incident in Daniel, Wyoming, wherein a wolf was run over by a snowmobile, tied up, and paraded around a local bar before being killed. The incident was the subject of widespread local and national coverage.

While some have tried to suggest that this incident was an isolated occurrence, yote whacking is not uncommon. Ranchers consider yote whacking to be a tool to remove coyotes and wolves from their land, and snowmobilers consider yote whacking to be a leisure activity.

The majority of Wyoming citizens who are aware of what yote whacking is are horrified of the practice. Despite this, Wyoming still lacks laws to protect predators from this form of animal cruelty. Not only do the state's wildlife managers, ranchers and lawmakers have no intention of creating punishments for yote whacking, they have recently proposed legislation that will codify the practice into Wyoming's animal law.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

On September 30th, 2024, the TRW committee voted to sponsor a bill that will effectively legalize yote whacking in the state of Wyoming. The bill was moved and will be introduced to the Wyoming legislature during their opening January sessions.

The yote whacking bill that will go before the state legislature not only fails to address the public's concerns over yote whacking, it stands to codify the practice into law. The next step for yote whacking activists will be to try to kill the bill as it enters the floor during the Wyoming legislature's January sessions.

Concerned constituents should write directly to their representatives and make clear their displeasure at the current state of the bill, which must be thrown out in favor of a new draft that actually makes yote whacking an effectively illegal practice.

Your input is essential.

The sponsors of the bill are senators Fred Baldwin, Affie Ellis, Mike Gierau, Stacy Jones, Wendy Schuler. The representatives who sponsored the bill are Abby Angelos, Donald Burkhart, Jr, Andrew Byron, J.T. Larson, Sandy Newsome, Daniel Singh, Liz Storer, Cyrus Western, and John Winter. Visit this site for legislators' emails.