HB0275

Amends animal cruelty laws to prohibit torture of wildlife after it is captured, establishes penalties including license revocation and equipment forfeiture, and clarifies trapping requirements.

• Adds definitions for predacious bird, predatory animal, and wildlife by reference to existing Wyoming statutes. (Sec. 1, W.S. 6-3-1001(a)(iv)-(vi))
• Creates a new felony offense for knowingly torturing, tormenting, or mutilating any living wildlife, including predatory animals and predacious birds, after reducing it to possession, with an exception for immediate killing. (W.S. 6-3-1005(a)(iii), Sec. 1)
• Clarifies that trap or snare owners are not required to check traps or snares before the time required by statute or game and fish commission rules, and that wildlife discovered in a trap or snare is considered in possession upon discovery. (W.S. 6-3-1005(a)(iii)(B), W.S. 23-3-103(d))
• Authorizes courts to revoke hunting licenses and suspend a person's privilege to purchase licenses or take wildlife upon conviction of felony animal cruelty violations. (W.S. 6-3-1005(c), W.S. 23-6-206(a)(ii))
• Establishes up to six years suspension of hunting privileges for conviction of the wildlife torture offense. (W.S. 23-6-206(a)(ii))
• Authorizes seizure and forfeiture of devices and equipment, including firearms, traps, snares, and vehicles, used in committing the wildlife torture offense, with different court jurisdiction based on equipment value. (W.S. 23-6-208)
• Requires that persons who pursue predatory animals or predacious birds using vehicles and injure or incapacitate them make a reasonable effort to immediately kill the animal, and defines incapacitate as injury or physical exhaustion preventing evasion. (W.S. 23-3-306(j))
• Removes the requirement for the department to report annually to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture the number of predatory animals and predacious birds taken by animal damage control agents. (W.S. 23-3-103(a))

Effective: July 1, 2025