2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 11 - Agriculture, Livestock And Other Animals
Chapter 30 - Offenses Concerning Livestock And Other Animals

CHAPTER 30 - OFFENSES CONCERNING LIVESTOCK AND OTHER ANIMALS

 

11-30-101. Repealed by Laws 1982, ch. 75, 5; 1983, ch. 171, 3.

 

11-30-102. Repealed by Laws 1982, ch. 75, 5; 1983, ch. 171, 3.

 

11-30-103. Repealed by Laws 1982, ch. 75, 5; 1983, ch. 171, 3.

 

11-30-104. Misbranding or altering brand of livestock.

 

Whoever brands, or alters or defaces the brand of any horse, mule, sheep or cattle of another with intent to steal or to prevent the identification of the animal shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than three (3) nor more than ten (10) years.

 

11-30-105. Repealed by Laws 1982, ch. 75, 5; 1983, ch. 171, 3.

 

11-30-106. Removing skins from carcasses without permission prohibited; exception as to railroads.

 

 

(a) Any person who skins or removes from a carcass any part of the skin, hide or pelt of any cattle, sheep, horses, mules or goats found dead, without permission from the owner, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or imprisoned not more than six (6) months, or both.

 

(b) This section does not prevent the skinning of animals killed by railroad companies by employees of the railroad company which killed the stock, but the hide, hides or pelts must be preserved for inspection according to law.

 

11-30-107. Transportation of beef unlawfully obtained or killed.

 

Transportation in Wyoming, without authority, of unlawfully obtained or killed beef, mutton, pork or poultry is unlawful, punishable as by law provided. Whenever any law enforcement officer of this state discovers any person unlawfully transporting any unlawfully obtained or killed beef, mutton, pork or poultry in any conveyance or vehicle, he shall seize the beef, mutton, pork or poultry and the conveyance or vehicle. The officer shall also arrest the person in possession thereof. The officer shall promptly prosecute proper charges against each person arrested in the proper court of the county in which the seizure is made. Upon conviction of the person charged with unlawful possession and transportation, the court shall order the forfeit of all personal property seized, and unless satisfactory cause to the contrary is shown by the owner, the court shall order prompt sale at public auction of the seized property. The resulting proceeds, after deducting expenses and costs of sale, shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the conviction is had to the credit of its public school funds.

 

11-30-108. Desertion and abandonment of sheep by herders.

 

It is unlawful for any person having charge as herder of any sheep to willfully desert and abandon the sheep upon the open range and leave them without care or attention. The herder shall in all cases give the owner or his employer not less than five (5) days notice prior to the time at which he intends to abandon the sheep. Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisoned not more than six (6) months, or both.

 

11-30-109. Taking horses and equipment without consent of owner.

 

Any person who unlawfully takes without consent of the owner any horse, ass or mule, or any buggy or other vehicle from the stable, lot, premises or pasture of another, or from a hitching post or rack or any other place, having been lawfully placed there, with intent to set at large, injure or wrongfully use the animal or vehicle taken, is guilty of criminal trespass and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00), or more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both, and is also liable to the party injured in double the amount of damage sustained.

 

11-30-110. Appropriation of horse or mule on open range without permission.

 

 

(a) It is unlawful for any person without the consent of the owner, to take possession of any horse or mule found running at large upon the open range for the purpose or with the intent of working, riding or driving the horse or mule, where there is no intent on the part of the person to steal the horse or mule. It is unlawful for any person to drive any horses or mules not his own, off or away from any range where the horses or mules are found, except to the nearest corral for the purpose of separating them from horses or mules belonging to the person. Any person driving horses or mules not his own from any range for the purpose of separating them from horses or mules belonging to him, shall drive the horses or mules back to the locality where they were found immediately after separating them whenever the animals have been driven for more than five (5) miles.

 

(b) Any person violating this section shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) or more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or imprisoned not more than six (6) months, or both.

 

11-30-111. Ranch or stable keeper not to use horses without consent of owner.

 

If any person keeping a public ranch or stable uses or allows to be used without consent of the owner any horse, ox, mule or ass that is left with him to be ranched or fed, he shall forfeit to the owner all ranch or stable fees that may be due upon the animal used and an additional forty dollars ($40.00) for each day the animal is used.

 

11-30-112. Abuse or negligent treatment by bailee.

 

Any person who takes into his possession, or hires or loans any property of any livery stable keeper, or any other person, and while the property is in his custody shall willfully, or with gross neglect or culpable carelessness damage or destroy the property, or permit the property to be damaged or destroyed, or shall by willful or gross neglect cause the sickness, injury or death of any animal received into his possession, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or imprisoned not more than sixty (60) days, or both.

 

11-30-113. Unlawful cutting of ears of sheep.

 

 

(a) It is unlawful for any person willfully to cut, sever, detach or mutilate more than one-half (1/2) of either ear of any sheep or to unlawfully have in his possession or under his control any sheep which have more than one-half (1/2) of either ear removed or mutilated unless the same are so described in a bill of sale or other certificate of title covering the sheep. Sheep afflicted by bighead are exempt from the provisions of this section.

 

(b) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years.

 

11-30-114. Tampering with or drugging of livestock prohibited; definitions; penalty.

 

 

(a) No person shall tamper with or sabotage any livestock which has been registered, entered or exhibited in any exhibition in this state.

 

(b) No person shall administer, dispense, distribute, manufacture, sell or use any drug to or for livestock which has been registered, entered or exhibited in any exhibition in this state unless the drug is approved for such use by the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United States Department of Agriculture. However, nothing shall prevent any person from using a drug on livestock owned by him if either federal agency has approved an application submitted for investigational use in accordance with the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

 

(c) Any person who violates this section shall be punished as provided by W.S. 11-1-103.

 

(d) As used in this section:

 

(i) "Drug" means as defined by W.S. 35-7-110(a)(x);

 

(ii) "Exhibition" means a show or sale of livestock at a fair or elsewhere in this state that is sponsored by or under the authority of the state or any political subdivision, local government, or any agricultural, horticultural or livestock society, association or corporation;

 

(iii) "Livestock" means any animal generally used for food or in the production of food, including, but not limited to, horses, mules and asses, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, swine, rabbits or llamas;

 

(iv) "Sabotage" means to intentionally tamper with any livestock belonging to or owned by another person that has been registered, entered or exhibited in any exhibition or raised for the apparent purpose of being entered in an exhibition;

 

(v) "Tamper" shall not include any action taken or activity performed or administered by a licensed veterinarian or in accordance with instructions of a licensed veterinarian if the action or activity was undertaken for accepted medical purposes or any action taken as part of accepted grooming, commercial or medical practices, but shall include any of the following:

 

(A) Treatment of livestock in such a manner that food derived from the livestock would be considered adulterated under the Wyoming Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, W.S. 35-7-109 et seq.;

 

(B) The injection, use or administration of any drug that is prohibited by any federal, state or local law or any drug that is used in a manner prohibited by any federal, state or local law;

 

(C) The injection or other internal administration of any product or material, whether gas, solid or liquid, to any livestock for the purposes of deception including concealing, enhancing or transforming the true conformation, configuration, color, breed, condition or age of the livestock or making the livestock appear more sound than the livestock would otherwise appear;

 

(D) The use or administration for cosmetic purposes of steroids, illegal growth stimulants or internal artificial filling, including paraffin, silicone injection, or any other substance;

 

(E) The use or application of any drug or feed additive affecting the central nervous system of the livestock;

 

(F) The use or administration of diuretics for cosmetic purposes;

 

(G) The manipulation or removal of tissue, by surgery or otherwise, so as to change, transform or enhance the true conformation or configuration of the livestock. Nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit generally accepted management practices including but not limited to the dehorning, castration or spaying, corrective shoeing or trimming of any livestock;

 

(H) Subjecting the livestock to inhumane conditions or procedures for the purpose of concealing, enhancing or transforming the true conformation, configuration, condition or age of the livestock or making the livestock appear more sound than the livestock would otherwise appear;

 

(J) Substituting any different livestock for the livestock registered or entered in the exhibition without the permission of a responsible official of the exhibition.

 

11-30-115. Unlawful killing of wild horses.

 

(a) For purposes of this section "wild horse" means a horse, mare, filly or colt which is unbranded and unclaimed and lives on state or public land.

 

(b) Any person, without legal justification, who willfully and maliciously kills a wild horse is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment for not more than six (6), months or both.