Justice for wolf pup Hope?
February 10: Arraignment for animal cruelty in Wyoming
In the US state of Wyoming, wolves and other predators are exempt from animal protection laws. Many even make a sport of killing them. Nevertheless, a man is now facing charges of serious animal cruelty.
What happened on February 29, 2024, in Daniel, a town of 108 residents in western Wyoming, caused a worldwide outcry. Forty-two-year-old Cody Roberts ran over a young wolf with his snowmobile—a legal “sport” in Wyoming called “whacking” (wolf torture). After Roberts seriously injured the animal, he reportedly taped its mouth shut, put an electric shock collar on it, and transported it to the Green River Bar. There, he paraded the suffering wolf around for hours, while guests took photos and videos.
Raubtiere sind in Wyoming vom Tierschutzgesetz ausgenommen. Dazu zählen: Kojote, Hase, Stachelschwein, Waschbär, Rotfuchs, Stinktier, streunende Katzen und in bestimmten Gebieten auch der Grauwolf. Die Naturschutzbehörde von Wyoming (Wyoming Game and Fish) verurteilte Roberts im März 2024 wegen illegalen Besitzes eines Wildtieres – eine Ordnungswidrigkeit – zu einer Geldstrafe von 250 US-Dollar.
An eyewitness later went to the police and reported what he had seen. “Cody Roberts entered the Green River Bar and joked that he had found a lost sheepdog. Moments later, he reappeared with a wolf on a leash, which he had muzzled.” The eyewitness gave the online news magazine WyoFile a short video he had recorded in the bar. However, he only did so after being promised complete anonymity for safety reasons, i.e., out of fear of Roberts. “He’s telling everyone in town that it was worth it,” says the eyewitness. “$250? That’s how much a round of drinks costs at the bar.” In the video, another person present can be heard saying “Poor guy” about the wolf, but no one helped the poor animal.
After several hours during which the frightened and pain-stricken animal is alternately tied to a coat rack, left lying in a corner, or paraded in front of the other guests in the bar, Roberts finally takes the young wolf outside—and shoots it.
After a month, the images of the Green River Bar and the information about the fine, which many considered too lenient, went viral. Under the hashtag #boycottwyoming, the state tourist office “Travel Wyoming” received hundreds of emails from outraged people from all over the country saying that they would cancel their planned trip to Wyoming and boycott the US state. The killed wolf is named “Hope” by animal rights activists. Even in Australia, the media reports on his fate.
First, the state authorities responsible for wildlife management insist that this atrocity is not typical of Wyoming. “Unable to quell global outrage and public outcry in the US, they finally admitted that running over predators with snowmobiles is a lucrative sport in Wyoming and has been practiced for over 50 years,” writes the nature and wildlife conservation project Wyoming Untrapped in its blog. Spokespersons for the agricultural industry have even admitted that killing coyotes, or “yote mashing,” is used as a means of species control. “This ‘sport,’ like competitions in killing wild animals, attracts mercenaries from other states as well as enthusiasts from Wyoming. It is a lucrative business.”
Two bills are being introduced in Parliament. One, HB275, seeks to prohibit the torture and mistreatment of predators during hunting or pursuit by vehicles. In addition, wild animals are also to be covered by animal welfare laws. Among the arguments put forward in the committee meetings to illustrate this point is that hunting wild animals with a 300-kilogram machine until the animal is exhausted, then repeatedly running over and crushing it, thereby virtually making it “property,” constitutes animal cruelty.
The law entitled “Treatment of Animals” will actually be passed in April 2025. However, it will continue to allow the pursuit and killing of predators with a vehicle, provided that “reasonable efforts are made to kill the injured or incapacitated animal immediately.” Violations will be punished with fines, license revocation, and confiscation of equipment.
If this law had already been in force when Roberts entered the bar, he could have been fined up to $5,000 and possibly lost his hunting license. However, it came into force on July 1, so it does not apply to Roberts’ case. The law also only applies to public land; on private land, “sportsmen,” hunters, and farmers can continue to do whatever they deem appropriate as a predator control measure.
A second bill, HB331, sought to ban the killing of wild animals, including predators, with vehicles, at least on public land. The bill failed to pass.
Then it emerges that Cody Roberts could have been sentenced to much more than a $250 fine. “When it became known that Mr. Roberts was working as a contractor for the conservation agency, the matter became even more disturbing. To date, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office (a sparsely populated rural county with a population of 8,728) and the district attorney’s office have not completed their investigation. It is expected that the case will remain unsolved indefinitely in this remote area where everyone knows everyone else.”
But things turn out differently. Nineteen months after that fateful evening at the Green River Bar, in August 2025, a grand jury of 12 citizens decides that Roberts should be charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Activists call it a milestone for wolf protection. The charges carry a possible sentence of up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The charges relate to the treatment of the wolf during its lifetime, not the killing itself, which remains legal under Wyoming law. The legal framework that allowed Roberts to act thus remains largely unchanged.
The indictment will be filed this Monday, February 10, at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time in the Third District Court of Sweetwater County (it has been moved here from Sublette County). Those who cannot travel there can attend online. Neither the judges, the lawyers, nor Cody Roberts will be present in person.
Listen to the live audio of his arraignment Nov 10 at 1:30 PM MT.
Audio stream - Go to the official court live-stream page at www.wyocourts.gov →
Courts → District Courts → Related Information → Live Courtroom Stream → Sweetwater County → Courtroom 2.
This text was first published on my German website and translated by me.