A years-long Wyoming range war over roaming Great Pyrenees, dead calves, surveillance cameras and increasingly bitter accusations between neighbors is now headed toward two trials.
Kerri Johnson, the Kinnear-area woman whose livestock guardian dogs have been at the center of complaints from neighboring ranchers, pleaded not guilty Friday to two felony charges: property destruction and cruelty to animals.
A jury trial is set for Nov. 16.
Before that, Johnson is scheduled to go to court over four separate animal-at-large citations that grew from the same long-running neighborhood battle. A bench trial on those citations is set for Sept. 22.
The court dates mark the latest escalation in what has been a bitter fight over Johnson's livestock guardian dogs, which neighboring ranchers say have repeatedly left their property, chased cattle and killed calves.
Johnson has portrayed a starkly different story publicly, saying her dogs are working livestock guardians and alleging that some have been shot or disappeared.
The dispute has generated dozens of calls to law enforcement, hundreds of photographs and videos, repeated citations, investigations by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and allegations of threats between neighbors.
Now, a jury could be asked to decide part of it.
Two Felonies
The property-destruction case emerged this spring as authorities investigated allegations involving livestock killed or injured on neighboring ranches.
Earlier animal-cruelty allegations connected to the dispute were dropped. Johnson, however, is now again facing a cruelty-to-animals charge — this time as one of the two felonies to which she pleaded not guilty Friday.
Fremont County Attorney Micah Wyatt did not respond to questions from Cowboy State Daily about what specifically prompted the felony charge, how it relates to the earlier cruelty allegations that were dismissed, and whether the felony prosecution stems from the same incidents underlying Johnson's animal-at-large citations.
The four citations will be decided separately by a judge during the Sept. 22 bench trial.
Years Of Complaints
By this spring, court records documented 39 reported incidents involving the dogs between January 2021 and April 2026.
Rancher Anna Shurtleff told investigators she amassed more than 700 photographs and videos documenting dogs she said were roaming neighboring properties, chasing livestock and harassing cattle.
Shurtleff and rancher Chris Eberline have blamed the dogs for dead and injured livestock, including calves found partially eaten.
Eberline previously told Cowboy State Daily she lost at least five calves this year.
“This is our livelihood,” she said.
The allegations eventually drew Game and Fish into the dispute.
Not A Wolf
On March 23, Game and Fish personnel investigated a dead calf found on Eberline's property.
An affidavit filed by Fremont County Sheriff's Detective Sara Lowe says investigators found the carcass partially consumed and examined tracks around it.
Investigators reported finding no evidence indicating the calf had been attacked by a mountain lion, bobcat or bear.
The tracks were described in court records as too large for a coyote but too small for a wolf.
They concluded the tracks came from either a domestic or feral dog.
That investigation became part of a much larger collection of evidence assembled as the neighbors tried to document what they believed was happening across their ranches.
Eberline said she installed seven surveillance cameras around her roughly 1,000-acre property, paying about $120 to $150 for each, plus subscription costs.
The cameras have captured dogs roaming the property, she said, but getting video of the moment a dog actually attacks a calf has proved more difficult.
Another Calf
The dispute intensified May 20, less than 24 hours after Cowboy State Daily first detailed the years of allegations surrounding the dogs.
Eberline walked outside that morning to feed her bottle calves and found another calf dead beside its mother.
“The top half has been eaten off,” she said at the time. “It’s totally red.”
Deputies and a Game and Fish officer responded that afternoon and conducted a necropsy.
Authorities had not publicly determined at that point what killed the animal.
To Eberline, the carcass represented another loss in a fight that had already consumed years.
“We’re just tired of it,” she said.
'You Know The Drill'
Long before the felony case reached District Court, Johnson was making repeated appearances in Circuit Court.
Court records show she paid fines associated with animal-at-large citations in April 2024 and April 2025 under a Wyoming law prohibiting owners from allowing animals to roam and damage another person's property.
Another citation was dismissed in April 2025.
More citations followed between September 2025 and March 2026.
Then came another.
When Johnson appeared in court this summer on her latest animal-at-large allegation, the proceeding had become familiar enough that the judge greeted the situation with a simple observation:
“You know the drill.”
Johnson pleaded not guilty.
Four of those citations are now set to be resolved at the Sept. 22 bench trial.
Johnson's Dogs
Social media posts reviewed by Cowboy State Daily show Johnson describing her Great Pyrenees as livestock guardian dogs protecting their home and animals — and accusing others of targeting them.
In February 2023, Johnson posted photographs of a Great Pyrenees named Thor that she said had been shot and rushed to a veterinarian.
She wrote that she didn't know whether the dog would survive.
Another dog, Ed, was later found in a field with a gunshot wound to the chest, Johnson wrote.
Johnson also said four other dogs were missing.
“My faith in humanity is beyond shattered,” she wrote.
The allegations added another layer to an already volatile dispute: Ranchers saying dogs were killing their livestock on one side, and a dog owner saying someone was shooting her animals on the other.
'Somebody's Going To Get Hurt'
Eberline said that after one court appearance Johnson confronted her and her husband.
“You shoot my dogs, I'm shooting you,” Eberline alleged Johnson told them.
Eberline also alleged that another relative later confronted her husband while he was building a fence and threatened to fight him.
Johnson has not responded to repeated Cowboy State Daily requests for comment about the allegations.
Eberline said months ago she feared the dispute was approaching a breaking point.
“I stated in court that somebody's going to get hurt,” she said.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
