Dear 'Yellowstone' Creator Taylor Sheridan ... What's Your Deal with Animals?

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Dear Taylor Sheridan,
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What’s your deal with animals? Because I’m starting to think you’re a bit of a psychopath.

I don’t often talk aloud while watching fictional TV series or movies, but while watching the latest episode of your Paramount Network drama series “Yellowstone” on Sunday, December 11 I verbally uttered “what the fuck?” as a Secret Service character shot a dog, it claimed was a stray, but the character of Mo, played by Moses Brings Plenty, knew to be someone’s pet, because it apparently posed some kind of threat to the President of the United States’ upcoming speech at the show’s Broken Rock Indian Reservation.

I shouldn’t be surprised, Taylor, because your show has always had a penchant for being unnecessarily cruel to animals. I’m sure you have a reason for including this moment in your show – maybe trying to make a point of the evil of politics or potentially law enforcement (though that seems a stretch for you) or even the world at large? Maybe it was something else?

The second dog murdered moments later didn’t do anything but further piss off some of your viewers. Search ‘Yellowstone dogs’ on Twitter if you need proof.

This has been an issue I’ve had with you and your show for a long time now – hell, the very first scene of your series sees Kevin Costner’s John Dutton putting an injured horse out of its misery via gunshot – but it seems to be getting worse.

Earlier this season – the show’s fifth – the character of Rip Wheeler, played by Cole Hauser, also had to put an injured horse down via gunshot. I understand these scenes, even if they might occur more than necessary, because accidents happen in ranch life and it’s inhumane to let an animal suffer.

I know for a fact you love horses – maybe more than anything – being the real-life cowboy you are when it comes to competing in horse related sports.

I can give you a pass for the (fictional) horse deaths.

But just this season in addition to the horse and the dogs you’ve also killed a buffalo via car accident (I’m sure it could happen) and multiple wolves, which are protected Yellowstone National Park wolves equipped with GPS collars for tracking.

The fact that the show can’t seem to go a string of more than a few episodes without animal death, sometimes seeing multiple types of animals killed within the same episode, is weird. When it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the storyline as with the dogs in the most recent episode it comes off as incredibly cruel and callous.

I understand many who read this will likely accuse me of being “woke.” They’ll likely tell me I should stop watching the show. They might even compare me to your character Summer, played by Piper Perabo.

But I mostly want to understand what’s wrong with you Taylor. If you somehow see this – let me know, will ya?

Sincerely, Confused Viewer
Julian Spivey   

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