You’d think animal-rights activist Ellen Kessler had drawn enough unwanted attention last year, when her appointment to the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine raised an outcry in the ag community. Her salty email this week to Gazette and Colorado Politics columnist Jon Caldara — heaping scorn on him for his criticism of legislation restricting pet shops — could nudge her back into the limelight. It also could remind rural Coloradans of their deep-seated differences with the governor who appointed Kessler in the first place.

Caldara, the irreverent provocateur and longtime president of Colorado’s center-right Independence Institute, took a shot in his column last Sunday at a bill capping the dwindling number of pet shops licensed to sell dogs or cats in the state. He criticized First Gentleman Marlon Reis — also an advocate for animal rights as well as a friend of Kessler’s — for testifying in support of the bill. Kessler responded via email to the Independence Institute:

“Jon Caldera (sic) …is a piece of sh*t. How dare he be an armchair quarterback to the First Gentleman, Rep Duran and Rep Soper when he can’t tell the difference between his ass and a hole in the ground? They’ve done more for underprivileged (sic) than you’ve done in a lifetime. Yeah, pet stores need to stop selling puppies and kittens. And you need to shut your ignorant yap.”

Not exactly a stride for civility. On Tuesday, Caldara recapped Kessler’s angry e-missive for his own extensive mailing list. We reached out to her via email, but she so far hasn’t responded.

Kessler is the avowed vegan and critic of the cattle industry whose appointment to the board last year by Gov. Jared Polis infuriated ranchers and others in agriculture. For a time, her name was emblematic with Colorado’s perennial — and arguably widening — urban-rural divide. Rural voices said Kessler’s appointment underscored how out of touch our Boulderite governor is with rural Colorado and the agricultural economy that sustains it.

Indeed, the governor has had repeated run-ins of his own with ag producers and with rural Colorado in general. The ag sector long has viewed him warily, in part because of his periodic snubs of the livestock industry. The most recent occurred just last week, when Polis declared March 20 “MeatOut Day” — only days before Colorado Agriculture Day is observed at the legislature.

That whole debate aside for the moment, Kessler’s lack of decorum doesn’t reflect well on the administration that appointed her. Caldara is of course hardly a shrinking violet; he points out he’s used to such feedback from his critics on the other side of the political fence. But the next columnist at whom she lashes out may take it more personally. That can splash back on the public officials who stand behind her.