Colorado — Cats Aren’t Trophies (CATs) reacted to news that a prominent trophy hunting guide in Colorado — Patrick Montgomery, 51, of Littleton — has been found guilty of two felony charges by a federal judge this week in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Montgomery is a well-known trophy hunter and guide, responsible for illegal killing and cruelty toward mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado.
Montgomery is in the news today after grabbing a law enforcement officer’s baton and kicking the police officer in the chest. But this is not his first run-in with the law. Montgomery had been charged with illegally using a .357 magnum handgun to kill a mountain lion in a Colorado state park. He was also reported to have illegally knocked a bobcat out of a tree with a slingshot and watched as his dogs mauled the animal to death.
“This is a violent man — one day it’s cruelty to animals, and on other days, it’s assault on our law enforcement officers,” said Sam Miller, campaign director for Cats Aren’t Trophies. “I hope the citizens of Colorado understand that killing lions for their heads and allowing the mauling of bobcats with packs of dogs are not normal behaviors. That kind of behavior should not be tolerated or encouraged by the state, and that’s one important reason we launched our ballot measure to protect wildlife from this kind of malicious mistreatment.”
Around 500 mountain lions each year in Colorado are chased down by dogs wearing tracking collars, driven up into trees where they seek refuge, and then shot at point-blank range. Bobcats, too, are the focus of hound hunters, or trappers who bludgeon the small cats after they catch them in traps.
Montgomery had pleaded guilty to robbery in New Mexico and was sentenced to six years in prison in 1996, making it a crime for him to possess a firearm. Montgomery got caught after posting online photos he took posing with the lifeless lion for the camera.
“If you are as outraged about a guy like this running amok and killing wildlife, you can do something about it,” added Miller. “You can decide to join our campaign today and get involved in stopping this cruelty to wildlife.”
Any Colorado citizen can become a “circulator” and join the CATs campaign. CATs offers training and has petitions ready to go. Coloradans can save 25,000 wild cats over the next 10 years by digging in to help with this drive over these next few months.
Cats is a diverse and broad coalition of humane and conservation organizations, along with rank-and-file hunters and other sportsmen, hits the ground this week to start collecting enough signatures from registered Colorado voters (125,000) to be on the November 2024 ballot.
Many of the citizens involved come from the 70 core endorsing organizations, including Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.