I'm going to start this by again saying that running an animal down with a vehicle, be it snowmobile, ATV, UTV, truck, or dirt bike, is not hunting. It doesn't ascribe to any sort of fair chase ethics, it laughs in the face of what hunters hold dear, and is straight-up animal cruelty in my opinion. It's not hunting, plain and simple, and I don't want hunting associated with the wolf-whacking practice.
But all of that is especially the case when the animal in question doesn't immediately die after said person runs it over. It becomes a far worse thing in itself.
And in the case of Wyoming resident Cody Roberts, who made international headlines last year for running over a wolf with his snowmobile, tying up the injured animal, parading it through a local bar for patrons and himself to take pictures with, and then dispatching the animal behind the bar, a grandy jury also agrees that what he did was animal cruelty some 18 months after the incident took place.
That's also after much debate by state legislators, as well as ranchers, livestock producers, and farmers behind closed doors, which ended with not much to show for it.
According to Wyofile, which has been doing some of the best on-the-ground reporting of this whole fiasco, last week, a grand jury agreed that there was enough evidence to indict Roberts on "felony cruelty to animals," which could carry up to a two-year prison sentence.
The news comes via a press release from the Ninth Judicial District Court, Sublette County Wyoming, which states, "During the second and third weeks of August, 2025, the Grand Jury convened for evidentiary sessions. Following receiving evidence and deliberation, the Grand Jury returned a ‘True Bill’ resulting in an Indictment against Cody Roberts for the charge of FELONY CRUELTY TO ANIMALS, a felony in violation of Wyoming Statute § 6-3-1005(a)(ii)(2024), punishable by up to two (2) years in prison, a fine of $5,000, or both."
As Wyofile notes, the indictment of Roberts follows a back and forth sparring between prosecutors and Wyoming's Department of Game and Fish, as due to a wolf being classified as a predatory species, it doesn't technically fall within animal abuse regulations. That said, Roberts was initially fined a meager $250 for the incident for the possession of a live wolf. Prosecutors, however, argued that while that was technically true, there was a narrow interpretation that could be applied to predatory species and animal abuse, which apparently the grand jury agreed with given Roberts is now facing a felony.
What's frustrating about the entire situation, however, isn't just Roberts' actions or the association that this has with hunting—again, it's not hunting. But rather, because of the lightning rod this has become, and how it involves predators, which are often looked at more fondly by the public at large, we now have issues with this potentially being used to stop the management of all predators due to public backlash, which isn't good for healthy ecosystems and populations.
Activists have long argued that predators shouldn't be managed like other game species, and that states are too hard on predator populations. And they've argued, and won in certain locales, to stop the state's wildlife experts and biologists from managing for healthy predator populations. That, however, leads to mismanagement, incidents involving predators and humans, malnutrition of the species, and human/predator conflicts in edge habitat—take a look at California and its bear and mountain lion issues.
This story, and the issues surrounding it, has the ability to help further those issues by actors who fail to see that management has to occur for both healthy populations, and fewer human/predator issues. Balance is key for all animal populations, and that's the case with humans, too.
As for Roberts, we'll stay on what occurs and whether or not he's convicted on the charge, so stay tuned.
