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 14, 2023

Bill Bryant, Police Chief
Moorcroft Police Department
104 North Big Horn Avenue
PO Box 70
Moorcroft, WY 82721
Via Email: police@townofmoorcroft.com

Dear Chief Bryant:

Dr. Hallie Hasel, Wyoming State Veterinarian, referred me to you regarding an activity in which chickens were roped for entertainment at Dewey’s Place bar & grill on Saturday evening, February 18, 2023. Dewey’s Place advertised that this was its ninth year hosting the “chicken roping contest.” A subsequent post relating to the activity announced, “This is Wyoming, we play with the animals and then we eat them.” This comment is an admission of pleasure in the infliction of fear and potential injury (and death) in defenseless creatures resulting from their being suspended in the air and tossed around by their necks, as is plainly evident in the behavior of participants recorded on February 18, 2023.

A visitor to this year’s event documented via text, photographs and video footage what was done to the chickens by inebriated men and women in the presence of many children. One child can be heard in the video yelling: “You’re probably killing that poor bird.” According to the visitor:

One of the highlights of the evening was the repetition of chokings that the birds had to endure again and again. Who in the world would want to have a cord or a rope around their neck and then be hoisted into the air? What can that be other than torture? Even Renee Jean, the business and tourism reporter for Cowboy State Daily, who published an article about this event, began her article with “Saturday was not a good night to be a rooster in Moorcroft” and later on stated “it’s clearly a stressful night for them.” See It's Not Quite Cheyenne . . .

As per our Feb. 8 News Release urging cancellation of this event: “While no animal of any size is built to be pulled in opposite directions, it is particularly obscene to pull in ‘opposite directions’ a small creature weighing just a few pounds. To the chickens at boot level of these ‘ropers,’ it’s like one of us being towered over by a tall tree or building in terms of proportionate sizes. . . . Imagine how scared and defenseless we would be and feel in similar circumstances.”

Chief Bryant, I respectfully urge you to intervene to prohibit future chicken roping contests in Moorcroft. Chicken roping contests violate § 6-3-1002. Cruelty to animals:

(iii) Knowingly carries an animal in a manner that poses undue risk of injury or death.

Thank you for your attention. I will gladly speak with you directly by phone or by email upon your request regarding this matter. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

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

 

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