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Cody Roberts Pleads Not Guilty
And Northern Rockies states also in denial about their cruel policies to wolves
By Wayne Pacelle
Cody Roberts has been arraigned in a Wyoming state court on a felony charge of animal cruelty for his horrific abuse of a young female wolf in early 2024.
It’s about time.
And it’s no surprise he’s pleading not guilty. The man still doesn’t think he did anything wrong.
But it’s hard for any of us alert to the lives of animals to forget the miserable facts: the Wyoming rancher and trophy hunter ran down the injured wolf with a snowmobile, bound her muzzle with tape, and dragged her into a bar in Sublette County to show her off before killing her.
Roberts’ contempt for the life of this innocent, juvenile wolf was unfathomable. It was a reminder that Wyoming is an “anything goes” state when it comes to killing wolves. In the vast reaches of the Equality State, there are virtually no restraints placed on people who want to hurt wolves. People with hate in their hearts are permitted to kill any number of wolves and by any method, including crushing an animal with a snowmobile, in the bulk of the land area where wolves live.
Roberts was only legally vulnerable because he took possession of the injured wolf — whom we later named Theia, for the goddess of light — and tormented her at his home. He then took her to a local bar, where he belly-laughed with other bar patrons and mocked the mortally wounded creature, whose life was slowly, painfully slipping away.
Like Wyoming, Idaho and Montana also allow people to run down wolves with a snowmobile — a practice common enough that it has its own vocabulary: “whacking” or “thumping.”
While Roberts has pleaded not guilty to the charge, his cruelty was on full display more than a year ago — sharing photographs with friends and acquaintances of the suffering he inflicted on Theia. This was not a moment of foolishness or drunken misjudgment. This was calculated and it was malicious. The embodiment of evil. Remorseless cruelty that demands accountability.
Incarceration, Not Tolerance, Is What’s Needed
After Roberts engaged in these horrible and abusive actions, authorities handed him a $250 ticket. It was only after organizations like ours demanded justice — along with thousands of angry citizens in Wyoming and across the nation — that state officials finally took action to pursue felony charges.
While the Wyoming court’s role will be to apply the facts to the state’s animal cruelty laws, there’s more to this controversy than just the behavior of Cody Roberts. He’s not the only one acting savagely toward wolves. In Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, state authorities let some people get away with cruelty of the highest order. They allow people to treat wolves like pests, rather than the forebears of the domesticated dogs we treat as family members. In these states, wolves are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. They are not protected at all in their native habitats.
Some of the so-called “management” methods allowed in the region are barbaric to the core: wolves chased down by snowmobiles or packs of dogs. Caught in steel-jawed leghold traps or neck snares, languishing in the bitter cold as the traps and snare cut through flesh and break bone. They are hunted even through the night, with shooters allowed to use night-vision scopes and thermal imaging. In most parts of the state where wolves live, there are no bag limits, no closed seasons. There are even cash bounties offered for killing wolves.
Wyoming, to say the least, is not living by its credo of “equal rights.” It’s doing anything but that.
Let’s Take Action for Wolves
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy have already gone to court to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a serious look at wolf management in these states — and we won. That court victory compels the federal agency to reconsider whether wolves in the Northern Rockies deserve federal protection.
And we are working on the reintroduction, within weeks, of the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act. This critical legislation would make it illegal to use motor vehicles to chase down and kill wildlife — a practice that has no place in a civilized society.
The sort of cruelty perpetrated by Cody Roberts should not find any refuge in any part of any state in our nation.
If you feel compelled, please send a respectful note to the Wyoming court handling the Cody Roberts case, expressing that you care deeply about this issue and urge the court to hold Roberts accountable. Under Wyoming law, felony animal cruelty is punishable by up to two years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. The case is being overseen by The Honorable Richard L. Lavery. His judicial assistant, Hollie Bramwell, can be reached at [email protected].
Remember, pay heed to the court and the judge. The judge has done nothing wrong. He’s presiding on a matter brought to him by the prosecutor, whose work we commend. But it is important that the judge understand the collective revulsion of the American people on this matter.
Second, contact your U.S. representative and senators and urge them to support the SAW Act. We have a 50-year-old federal law that bans running down wildlife with aircraft. We should forbid running them down with snowmobiles and other land-based motorized vehicles, too.
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