A Wyoming Senator proposed an amendment that would repeal livestock theft as an automatic felony, Oil City News reports.
Senator Larry Hicks proposed the amendment stating, “My concern is that if somebody stole a pig that was worth $50 they are now a felon under this law,” he said. “If you want to fill the jails up with more felons, let’s send them to jail for a $200 pig.”
The amendment was hit with criticism from Senator Ogden Driskell.
“This was Wyoming’s first felony, rustling law,” he said. “It is there for a reason. Livestock theft is pretty easy.”
Senator Driskell’s main concern was someone going to any rancher’s ranch and sealing one calf at a time all day long with the worst penalty being a misdemeanor.
Another issue with the amendment is the value of livestock falling or rising just above or below the felony threshold, making it very difficult to enforce.
Removing the automatic felony could allow thefts to steal many young livestock without crossing the felony threshold.
