"A bill that would make it easier for people in Wyoming to consume alcohol while doing things like throwing axes, darts, and chicken roping is only one step away from reaching Gov. Mark Gordon's desk," reports Cowboy State Daily.
Alcohol, axes, darts, and chickens — what could possibly go wrong?
Chicken roping seems pretty senseless. From United Poultry Concerns:
The so-called "sport" of chicken roping consists of bullying defenseless hens and roosters for rodeo-style entertainment in some Wyoming towns.
According to a January 21 article in Wyoming Life/News, "It's exactly like calf roping. . . . They run a chicken out of a little pen and they rope it. . . . Someone throws a cord around the neck and someone [else] tries to get one of the feet."
This article features a bar called Dewey's Place in Moorcroft, Wyoming where chicken "roping" is said to be in its 9th year. This year's event is scheduled for Saturday, February 18.
Picture big men in cowboy dress harrying and tying cords around the necks and legs of small, fearful and bewildered birds overpowered amid the yelping of a bar crowd.
"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," says Karen Davis, president of United Poultry Concerns. "Imagine how scared and defenseless we would be and feel in similar circumstances."
"Chicken roping," Davis says, "is an act of pure bullying, with the inevitability of injury and death to the victims built innately into the activity. The trauma inflicted on the chicken may not even manifest itself until after the event. A hen or rooster stands no chance against a towering, controlling human being bent on subjugation."
