Sign a petition to help us change the Wyoming predator laws!
One step closer to predator justice
PETITION
The petition I am asking you to sign is to increase awareness by forcing the Governor of Wyoming and the state legislature to reconsider the state's predator laws in Wyoming.
According to BallotPedia, "The signature requirement in Wyoming is based on the number of votes cast in the state's most recent general election--held every two years." This means that for the next election (2022) we need 41,775 signatures. This is a monumental effort and we need your help now!
WHY?
According to a 2019 report ,"It is perfectly legal in Wyoming to chase coyotes down on snowmobiles until they're exhausted and defenseless, then run over them several times. It's more eye-opening still that the people who consider this activity a "sport" scoop up the lifeless coyotes by their tails, then finish them off”. "Predator killing contests aren't particularly uncommon, and they're legal everywhere in the U.S. except California. Most involve guns and coyotes, which some wildlife officials classify as varmints. In those contests, hunters fan out the countryside with rifles equipped with telescopic sights. Hunters pick off as many coyotes as they can” (Dalbey).
An additional study was done, "At least 400,000 coyotes are killed each year in the United States. That’s an average of nearly 1,100 individuals a day” (The rainforest sight).
ABOUT ME
I am a 7th grader who lives in Wyoming. I am doing this for a school project called "Combat the Silence." We were asked to pick a topic that we believe needs to be changed in our society. We then need to go out in to our community and make a difference. I chose this topic because I had a personal experience that moved me to act. My family and I were on the way to Utah for our spring break 2021 when we pulled over on Highway 89 on the south side of Salt Creek Pass south of Afton, Wyoming to stretch our legs. My dad was looking at the small creek and then asked us, “Does that look like someone dumped a pile of coyotes?” I went over to look because it could not be true that someone could be that destructive. At the time, I did not know that what we witnessed was legal, or that it was happening in our state and country. Next to the pile of dead coyotes there was a cooler with a rib cage and a few steaks. Our initial thought was that they must have been poisoned because there was raw meat in a cooler next to a number of dead coyotes. We called Wyoming Game and Fish and were appalled when they told us that coyotes were predators that could be killed legally and removed by any means. A game warden was concerned about the cooler and the possibility of illegal poisoning and went to investigate. The chief concern was that other scavengers and birds could be killed if the cooler was a poison trap. A day later in the Utah desert, we got a call from the warden explaining that they had not been poisoned but possibly lured in by the meat or simply dumped there. The newspaper published this story and it was shared about 500 times across social media. While many commenters were appalled, there were many comments saying, “Go back to California” and “If you don't like it leave”. How can we just stand still and let this happen before our own eyes? This is why I decided to bring this topic in the light. It happens every day under our noses.