A grassroots organization formed after the torture of a wolf in Sublette County last year has taken notice of the alleged abuse of a cow moose on an Uinta County ranch and are calling for “the full force of the law” to be applied.
Wyoming Sportsmanship President Paul Ulrich said an incident involving three cowboys allegedly roping, riding and dragging moose in May 2021, warranted his group speaking out.
The moose abuse case came to light this week in Evanston Circuit Court after video of the abuse prompted prosecutors to charge three suspects.
“Anytime any of Wyoming’s wildlife is senselessly tortured it is egregious,” Ulrich said. “The multiple alleged incidents (in Uinta County) are particularly egregious, pathetic, and disgusting.”
The organization’s statement emphasized the trio’s alleged actions do not represent “true hunting, ranching, or sporting conditions.”
Justin Martin, 53, of Evanston, Range H. Martin of Evanston and Kylan W. Platt of Malad City, Idaho, face animal cruelty and related charges.
A Sheridan wildlife investigator found videos linking the men to “riding and spurring a cow moose that appeared to be in poor health.”
Images from videos taken in May 2021 show the moose with a lariat around its neck and one of the suspects on top of it, spurring it aggressively, according to investigators.
Not True Sportsmanship
Wyoming Sportsmanship formed after a February 2024 animal abuse case in which Sublette County prosecutors say a Daniel, Wyoming, man ran down a wolf on a snowmobile, taped the injured animal’s mouth shut, paraded it around in a town bar before killing it. Cody Roberts, the suspect in that case who faces a charge of animal cruelty, has pleaded not guilty.
The incident with the wolf exploded into international headlines, sparking outrage across the globe from sportsmen and animal rights activists.
A fourth-generation Wyoming resident, Ulrich said his group includes a “few of us from all walks of life in Wyoming,” who worked hard lobbying for the state’s “Clean Kill Bill,” passed in 2025, that enhances penalties and “ensures the malicious torture of wildlife is treated as the serious crime it is.”
Ulrich said the new law protects all of the state’s wildlife to an enhanced degree.
The board of the Wyoming Sportsmanship includes former Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kite. She did not immediately return a call but was quoted in the statement released by Wyoming Sportsmanship calling the alleged actions of the trio “repulsive.”
“They shamed themselves and degraded the image we all have of our cowboys in this state by attacking and torturing an old, weakened wild animal that was just trying to survive,” she said.
Court Case
In the Uinta County incident, a criminal summons was issued Dec. 4 by Special Prosecutor F. Gaston Gosar of the Sublette County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office ordering Justin Martin and Range H. Martin and Platt to appear in Evanston Circuit Court on Jan. 15 to answer charges related to the alleged incident.
Justin Martin is listed as the registered agent of the M Arrow Ranch in Evanston where the alleged incidents took place. He also is listed on the Wyoming State Livestock Board’s website as a brand inspector in Uinta County. A message left on Martin’s phone was not immediately returned.
Neither Gosar nor Uinta County Attorney and Prosecutor Loretta R. Howieson Kallas immediately returned calls regarding the reason for the need for a special prosecutor in the case.
The Charges
Court documents show Justin Martin is charged with two counts of accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals, and two counts of accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal, a cow moose. Charges stem from incidents on May 4 and 24, 2021.
Platt and Range Martin are both charged with felony cruelty to animals, wanton taking of a big game animal and possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife. Platt’s incident occurred on May 4, 2021, and Range Martin’s on May 24, 2021, documents state.
The charges of accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals carry a maximum of two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. The charges of accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal, a cow moose, carry a potential sentence of one year in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.
The charges of felony cruelty to animals also carry potential penalties of two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 while the charge of wanton taking of big game animal, a cow moose, carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
The charge of possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife, a cow moose, carries a potential penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
