Such a standard for killing makes you think it would be fun for someone like Cody Roberts, 42, to mow down an adolescent female wolf on a 600-pound snowmobile and drag her to a bar in Daniel, Wyoming. It’s easy to imagine what will happen. , and pose for photos. Witnesses said Roberts taped the wolf’s jaws shut and repeatedly shocked it with a shock collar, then dragged it outside and shot it to death.
Well, it may not seem so easy to a sane person. I tried to take my eyes off it for a few days, trying to write about this barbarity. Videos and photos of Roberts, smiling and kneeling with suffering animals and holding a celebratory beer, quickly spread around town and online. Outraged animal rights activists around the world spread the word about Roberts and the vile fate of the critically injured animals.
Still, Roberts was fined just $250 for illegally possessing a “live warm-blooded wild animal.” Hello Mary — It’s against the law. I would be happy if something happened.
Animal rights groups are far from satisfied, offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who can provide police or prosecutors with additional evidence that could lead to Roberts being sentenced to at least a year in prison. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Economics Center, also named the poor wolf Theia, the Greek goddess of light, vision and prophecy, to be remembered as a noble creature who made sacrifices to advance causes. It was to so. Aiming for more humane policies.
To this end, the Center for Humane Economics and other organizations have advocated banning the use of snowmobiles to corner or crush animals, eliminating predation zones in Wyoming, and using hunting dogs, wire traps, and steel jaws. is seeking a ban on the use of A foothold trap.
If there’s a reason Roberts feels he did nothing wrong, it’s the lax Wyoming laws that created freedom to hunt wolves. But what kind of states actually let people run over animals on snowmobiles? This is clearly rhetorical.
Roberts did not respond to a phone call.
A legal analysis by the center suggests Roberts could still be prosecuted under the state’s animal cruelty law, which carries felony-level penalties. But Wyoming officials disagree, saying the Animal Welfare Act does not apply to predatory species other than wolves, which are defined as coyotes, red foxes, feral cats, jackrabbits, porcupines, raccoons and striped skunks. In theory, under current state law, all such animals could be tortured with impunity.
Officials remain disgustingly silent about policy regarding wolves. In their first public statement regarding the Roberts case just days ago, Wyoming Game and Fish officials cited state law that says any information about wolves captured in Wyoming is not public record.
This also applies to wolves killed in neighboring states. Hunters in Wyoming are killing Colorado wolves that roam near the border, or luring wolves into the state to kill them. Wyoming refuses to share wolf information with Colorado, reporting only the total number killed.
Colorado operates differently. Last year, it implemented a program voted on in 2020 to reintroduce wolves to states where they were once abundant. Residents there apparently understand, as do at least some people in Wyoming, the valuable role wolves play in the ecosystem.
Jim Keene, a Wyoming veterinarian, epidemiologist and rancher, was among about 200 people who attended a Game and Fish Department hearing Wednesday to express their anger at Roberts. (“That photo,” said Lorraine Finazzo, who traveled all the way from South Carolina, “couldn’t sleep.”)
Keene said the no-holds-barred approach to killing wolves actually poses a threat to hunting and ranching, in part because so many deer and elk in Wyoming suffer from chronic wasting disease. I testified. Without natural enemies, these animals pose a threat to hunters and other animals that eat them. Keene said wolves selectively cull unhealthy animals from deer and elk herds.
Additionally, when hunters reduce herd size, wolves are no longer able to take down elk and elk, and instead kill smaller animals such as sheep and calves.
There is never an excuse to torture animals under any circumstances. Roberts deserves to be punished in the interest of justice and as a warning to others. Keene warned that if Wyoming doesn’t reconsider its policies, there’s a good chance the federal government will step in and take over wolf management.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) condemned Roberts’ actions. But for Theia’s sake, and for the sake of our common humanity, let’s hope that national authorities act quickly.
