Like many, I was aghast when I heard that a Wyoming man had used a snowmobile to run down a wolf last year, only to not finish the animal off, and then parade said animal through a local bar for patrons to take pictures like it was some Times Square mascot. I was equally taken aback that Cody Roberts, the man who ran the animal down, then got bored and euthanized the animal behind the bar, only for him to then see a $250 fine for his actions.
And as I've said in our past coverage, this is not hunting. It's not an ethical form of take. And goes against hunter ethics in every way possible. So please don't conflate the two. But the world was pissed, too, and it caused a lot of consternation within the Cowboy State, as folks from far and wide found out that the practice of "wolf whacking" was essentially legal, and used by ranchers and others to take down wolves and other predators.
But it caused enough of a headache for local law enforcement, as well as politicians, to increase the fines, re-assess the law's language, and, in recent months, indicted Roberts with felony animal cruelty, which could carry up to two years in prison. And in the latest saga of the case, Roberts entered a plea of not guilty. He's now set for a trial date in March, where this could get even messier.
According to Wyofile, which has been doing amazing work covering this and public lands fights, after experiencing some technical difficulties with his camera feed—Roberts wasn't required to enter his plea in person—and the judge reading the amended indictment, stating that Roberts "knowingly and with intent to cause undue suffering" and "tortured or tormented" a "male gray wolf," the man responded that he pleaded "Not guilty."
Now, due to the amount of evidence that was made publicly available by the indicted through social media, you'd think this would be an open and shut case. But because of Wyoming's predator laws, as well as its more or less limitless law on method of take involving vehicles, which includes the aforementioned snowmobile that Roberts used in this situation, there could be a lot more gray area argued by Roberts' lawyers.
Likewise, the state's Game and Fish department could've made the original $250 fine steeper due to the actions Roberts made, but even after public outrage reached a fever pitch, it argued that it didn't apply to a wolf because of its predator animal status. The case then slowly made its way through local law enforcement and finally to a grand jury, where they made the decision to indict Roberts on felony animal cruelty.
Now that Roberts has entered his plea, the trial is set for March 9th at 9am. And as I said earlier, due to a number of circumstances, along with a general local public support of Roberts, it's unclear whether he'll face any further repercussions for his actions.
