CHEYENNE, Wyo. — On Feb. 28, Governor Mark Gordon signed HB0275 – Treatment of animals into law, which prohibits the torture and possession of wildlife.
House Bill 275 states that it is against the law if a person “knowingly, and with intent to cause undue suffering, tortures, torments or mutilates living wildlife, including predatory animals and predacious birds, after reducing the living wildlife to possession.”
The law does not prohibit hunters from using traps to kill animals. Hunters will not need to check their trap or snare before the time required in title 23 of the Wyoming statutes. Additionally, predators, including coyotes and wolves, would still be permitted to be killed by “whacking,” a term which describes the running down of an animal by snowmobile or other vehicle.
Approximately one year ago, on March 3, 2024, Cody Roberts ran down and possessed a wolf in Daniel, Wyo., prompting the public, animal rights groups and environmental organizations to lobby for stricter predator cruelty laws.
On Sept. 12, federal lawmakers pursued new legislation, the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act, to prohibit the intentional killing of wolves, coyotes and other wildlife with a snowmobile on federal lands. The SAW Act failed to gain traction due to pressure from the ranching industry, according to the Associated Press.
Lisa Roberston, President and Co-Founder of Wyoming Untrapped in Jackson, told Buckrail that she traveled to Cheyenne during the 2025 legislation season to attend Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources (TRW) committee meetings discussing predator cruelty laws. She said that while HB0275 didn’t end the “cruelty of animal whacking” it is still progress.
“Running over an animal even once is torture and it’s been happening for decades,” Robertson said. “We are all aware of this, but the legislature just didn’t get it to the final law to restrict this act completely for all wildlife in Wyoming. We are getting somewhere, though, because more and more people are seeing this as a form of torture. The goal point is to end the vehicular killing of animals. We will continue to push for ending animal cruelty in this manner.”
According to House Bill 275, a first offense of cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months, a fine of not more than $5,000 or both. At the discretion of a judge, a convicted person could also be subject to the revocation and suspension of their hunting license for up to three years.
