An Emblem, Wyoming family continues to mourn the loss of five dogs after they ate poisoned meat on Bureau of Land Management land near their home in September.
Two children continue to receive counseling because of the event.
Trina Widdison said her family's property butts up against BLM land and she had a dog breeding program. Their family has sheepadoodles and a Catahoula leopard dog.
"Someone had thrown poisoned meat and eggs out to kill the predators we have around us," she said. "My fence broke and five of our dogs got out and ate some of the bait. Within 48 hours we had to have our dogs euthanized by the Meeteetse vet."
Widdison said the five pets named Willow, Barkley, Spot, Bayou, and Birch escaped through their fence on Friday, Sept. 19, while she was at work, ate some of the meat and by the following Sunday they were having seizures, loss of body function and vomiting.
All of the dogs had been DNA tested and all had their health certifications, she said.
"I spend thousands on my breeding program to have it all be taken from us in a weekend," she said.
A friend of the family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with expenses which included cremations and decontaminating their property.
Widdison said two of her children who are 7 and 10 have autism and are struggling to cope with the loss.
"My kids are having to go to therapy weekly and struggling daily with mental stuff," she said.
Widdison said a neighbor called in the poisoning to law enforcement, but she did not know which agency was handling the call. She said she had not spoken to any officers.
The Big Horn County Sheriff's Office said a cursory search of their calls for Sept. 19 showed they did not respond to the poisoning report.
Calls to BLM offices in Worland and the state BLM public information officer went to voicemail because of the government shutdown.
A call to Greybull River Veterinary Services in Meeteetse said they did care for the dogs but needed to clear the release of any information with Widdison. They did not return a call by deadline.
Poisoning predators on public land and having it affect pets and wildlife has been an issue in the state in the past.
In 2023, the BLM banned the use of spring-loaded M-44 bombs that contained sodium cyanide. The bombs were staked in the ground and topped with bait.
Federal regulation 4140.1 specifies actions prohibited on federal land. One of those is the placement of poisonous bait or hazardous devices that violates state and federal laws designed for the destruction of wildlife.
The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported in a Feb. 12, 2020, story that poison-laced baits were scattered at the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission's Spence and Moriarity Wildlife Management Area.
The newspaper also reported that in 2018, dogs on a walk near the East Fork of the Wind River outside Dubois came down with diarrhea, vomiting and convulsing. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent also found a dead bald eagle, a golden eagle, other birds and a coyote and small mammals dead from poison-laced meat.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department Thursday directed questions about potential poisonings occurring on state land to the Office of State Lands and Investments.
Office of State Lands and Investments spokesperson Melissa DeFratis pointed to rules governing state trust land that remove liability from the state or lessee for anyone on state land for "recreational" purposes if a similar incident occurred there.
"Persons so entering shall be deemed to assume the risk of injury occurring on state lands unless caused by the willful and malicious acts of the State of Wyoming or a lessee of the (Land) Board," the rule states.
Widdison said she is not anticipating any reparations.