Wyoming tells stories about itself.
Opinion
We speak of wide open spaces, hard winters, resilience and respect for the land. We celebrate wildlife as part of our identity, something that belongs not just to the state, but to the world. Yet the laws we uphold and the penalties we impose are telling a different story.
One of tolerance for cruelty.
Again and again, acts of extreme harm toward wildlife and even family pets surface in Wyoming. These incidents ripple far beyond county lines, drawing national and international attention. The details differ, but the outcomes remain strikingly similar. Minimal penalties. Little accountability. A quiet return to business as usual.
In 2024, a young wolf was run down with a snowmobile, injured, taped shut at the mouth and carried through a bar before being killed. The images traveled the world. The state responded with a minor citation. A $250 fine. Suffering was treated as a technical violation rather than a moral failure.
Another wolf, known as 1329M, was born in Yellowstone and tracked by researchers studying the fragile future of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. When he crossed an invisible boundary and left the park, he entered a landscape where protections fell away. There, he
stepped into a steel-jawed leghold trap and remained caught for days. When he was found, he was dead, likely from dehydration and exposure. In many places, such negligence would demand accountability. In Wyoming, it carried a $250 fine.
Then there was Jester, a beloved family dog exploring public land near Swift Creek in Star Valley. An illegally set Conibear trap ended his life within minutes. His owner tried desperately to save him. The penalty that followed was $150. Less than many routine traffic fines. A life lost, reduced to a line item.
A wolf in a bar. A wolf in a trap. A dog on a trail.
These incidents are symptoms of policy choices that repeatedly place minimal value on animal suffering. Low fines, narrow definitions of cruelty and broad exemptions for certain species create a system where harm is tolerated and responsibility is blurred.
This is not a question of being for or against hunting or trapping. Many hunters and trappers believe deeply in ethics, restraint and respect. This is about whether Wyoming’s laws reflect those values or undermine them.
When cruelty carries little consequence, it becomes easier to repeat. When suffering is treated as incidental, it becomes invisible. And when the law looks away, it teaches others to do the same. The world is paying attention. These stories are shaping how Wyoming is seen far beyond its borders. They are becoming part of our public face, whether we like it or not.
Wyoming can choose differently. We can strengthen cruelty statutes, close loopholes that allow extreme harm without accountability and ensure penalties reflect the seriousness of the acts committed. Doing so would not erase our heritage. It would honor it.
What Wyoming allows, it teaches. The question now is what lesson we want to leave behind.
Thank you for this piece. It is high time that Wyoming and the rest of the states start to place respect and value on animals, wildlife included. I was absolutely gutted by the Cody Roberts wolf torture and I hope they prosecute him to the fullest and then some. I hope they make an example out of him and maybe others will think twice before they hurt and torture a living being. The brutal cruelty is shocking to anyone with half a soul. Also, trapping is banned in over 80 countries, why not here? It is barbaric medieval torture. Killing is NOT conservation.
The author ‘hit the nail on the head’ so to speak. The worse issue with trapping is that it does not discriminate. Leghold & conibear traps are cruel & inhumane. I cannot think of why anyone would use one when there are humane methods of trapping available. 10 states ban both as well as 80 countries. Several other states have various restrictions such as no trapping on public lands etc. In some states it is a misdemeanor & some make it a felony. Even when a misdemeanor, it can be a yr in jail. At the least, there is usually a suspension of hunting/fishing license which is recognized thru the Interstate compact in the 48 contiguous states.
Finally, it has been recognized for at least 2 decades that there is a link between animal cruelty & cruelty to humans. The FBI has been documenting this for yrs. & is especially true in domestic violence.
Another ration of progressive BS! Get over yourself already.
It is not “progressive” to believe that animals are sentient beings and do not deserve to be hurt, maimed or tortured, it’s just decent.
Honestly, it’s not just Wyoming. We need more articles just like this one so people can become aware. People are pretty humane to pet animals, but seem to leave food animals behind. They are creatures too.
Thank you for your excellent and timely opinion piece. This needs to be said.
It is time for Wyoming to increase its animal cruelty statutes. This should include ending trapping. Trapping is non-species specific. Every year, pets, birds, endangered species and more are killed in traps. As a veterinarian, I have treated pets caught in traps. Broken bones, infected tissue, broken teeth from biting the trap to get out of it, and deaths. Time for Wyoming to protect the animals and not the animal killers.
COWBOY QUOTES
“Cowboys, sensing–like gorillas–that their time has passed, cling evermore desperately to anachronistic styles, not willing to admit that the myth has degenerated, the traditions eroded to a point where attempting to sustain them falls somewhere between silliness and the outright ridiculous.” (–Larry McMurtry, rancher and author of “Lonesome Dove,” in the book, “RODEO,” Aperture Books, NYC, 1994)
“No one on a working ranch would ever have any reason (or desire) to ride a bull, Brahma or otherwise. No one would ever be required to race a horse around three triangularly placed barrels, an activity that quickly ruins the horse for more productive activity. Bull riding and barrel racing are rodeo kabuki–their relation to anything that might happen on a ranch is confined to costume.” (–Ibid., #15)
“Women should not rodeo any more than men can have babies. Women were put
on earth to reproduce, and are close to animals. Women’s liberation is on an equal to gay liberation–they are both ridiculous.” (–a Wyoming steer wrestler, in the book, “RODEO: An Anthropologist Looks at the Wild and the Tame,” by Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, Univ. Tenn. Press, 1982)
“The eighteen-year-old rodeo queen and her princess told me that rodeo people, including themselves, ‘hated Democrats, environmentalists, and gays.’ I was astonished that their political and social outlook could be reduced to such simple platitudes of hate. And why?” (–from “Rodeo Queens and the American Dream,” by Joan Burbick, Public Affairs, NYC, 2002)
“If ever there were a completely gratuitous abuse of animals, and often baby
animals at that, all done for the sheer thrill and bravado of it, it is rodeo.”
(–Matthew Scully, “DOMINION: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and
the Call to Mercy” (2002). Scully is a former speechwriter for Pres. G.W. Bush.)
“Do I think it hurts the calf? Sure I do. I’m not stupid.” (–Keith
Martin, CEO, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. In the February 6,
2000 SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)
Wyoming Game an fish gave someone the okay to shoot and kill my dog who got out of her enclosure in 90mph wind she was literally in the neighbors yard. All because she looked like a wolf.
My goal is to keep abreast of what is legally or illegally happening. I want to write to my legislators to help make change for reforms.
A steady flow of Letters to the Editors could be helpful. A great way to educate the public, and it’s FREE.
As an avid traveler, I’ve been to states across the country. But I will not step foot in Wyoming or spend a dime there because of the sickening cruelty to animals that is routinely condoned there.
Thank you for this sensitive and accurate article on the ongoing and extreme cruelty to animals in Wyoming–which is recognized and written about all over the United States. Perhaps the legislators in Wyoming might consider the words of
Mahatma Gandhi–“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Legislators should enact laws that bring out the best in people. Turning a blind eye to cruelty to animals is a failure of leadership, ethics, and courage.
Truer words were never spoken
This is very sad.
Wyoming, as a state, has made a point of defying humane values since a bucking rodeo horse was added to state license plates in 1936, two years after the United Kingdom banned rodeo & eight years after California voters in 1928 rejected a ballot proposition seeking to ban rodeo, but the very existence of the proposition demonstrated the then growing strength of the humane movement, which was subsequently interrupted for a generation by the Great Depression & World War II.
Amen. WY plasters a picture of a guy angering a horse EVERYWHERE. Safe to say, animal cruelty is this state’s highest value.
As one who has spent the last 60 years of her life involved in animal advocacy in its many iterations, I fully agree with and deeply appreciate this article. Cruelty to animals in any form is something with which I can never comprehend or accept and I simply do not understand how those who commit such crimes – for to me they are crimes- against sentient creatures wild or domestic, can be so blind or deaf to the fact that this behavior is both immoral/unethical and beneath the dignity and conscience of a decent human being. Thank you for articulating these concerns to fellow Wyomians and other compassionate americans.
And it’s about to get worse. Reportedly, the board of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) recently voted to move their headquarters from Colorado to Wyoming, likely in the year 2029. Nearly every animal welfare organization on the planet condemns rodeo for its inherent cruelty. Just imagine the public outcry if pet dogs were substituted for the terrified roping calves (mere babies!) or the wrestling steers. Rodeo is not a true “sport”–that term denotes willing, evenly-matched participants–rodeo does not qualify. It’s mostly hype, a macho exercise in DOMINATION. It needs to end. The United Kingdom (England/Scotland/Wales) outlawed all of rodeo back in 1934. Can the U.S. be far behind? Critics have included the late Pope Francis, Cesar Chavez and Dr. Jane Goodall. Follow the money.
Human beings as a species manifest a spectrum of values and behavior. Humans can behave with the worst of qualities, like cruelty, blood sport, selfishness, pride in bigotry and ignorance – to name some. Humans can also behave with the best of qualities, like compassion, generosity, altruism, and knowledge and inclusion of the broader world – to name some. At this time, it seems in Wyoming, and the US, that behaving with the worst of human qualities is admired. I think the bottom line is that a good percentage of humans enjoy forms of cruelty . . . always have, always will. And I wish this quality wasn’t so appealing to so many us that those who live this value are excused and avoid consequences for harm caused in our shared world.
The instances of snowmobiles running over coyotes and wolves, then in bars are VERY few and far between to only one. Cody Roberts will always carry his mark wherever he goes. As for the snowmobiles running down predators, I dont like the thought of it, but how is it much different from a pack of wolves chasing down a pregnant cow elk, coyote, or rival pack wolf and tearing to pieces while still alive?
Trapping has gone on since man figured out how to do it thousands of years ago.
NATURE isnt always pretty, the relentless attack on trapping and trappers is an effort to further remove man from the natural world.
I dont trap, it doesnt appeal to me as it doesnt to the author. But I am not going to go out and try and prevent others from doing it responsibly, which is the goal of the author and her organization.
How can you compare a human running down an animal with a snow mobile with a wolf pack hunting to stay alive. The human makes that choice not to survive but to inflict injury and or death because they can. A wolf pack hunt to live, they take the weaker, the injured. They do not have a choice, it is what they do. To compare one with the other is idiotic.
Think about it just for a minute – Wolves running down a cow elk: Wolves can run at 30 to 40 miles per hour, but only for around 20 minutes at that speed. A cow elk, top speed, 45 miles per hour, and can run 2 to 3 miles in just minutes. When wolves run down an elk or deer or rabbit, they usually chase the sick or injured, and if that isn’t available will try for the slowest. They do it to eat.
Snowmobile 100 miles per hour and up. They don’t “tire out” after 30 minutes or so. They can chase a wolf, coyote, or cow elk until it drops if the rider wants to. The snowmobile isn’t out to eat. It ‘eats’ gasoline.
It ain’t the same thing at all.
Hunting is for food, and most hunters are good stewards of the land and her animals. Using a snowmobile to run down an animal until it drops from exhaustion or until it is run over, then talking it and smashing its head against a tree isn’t hunting, it isn’t for food, it’s all for the sake of cruelty.
Sarah, you’re repeating fairy tales, wolves kill healthy elk every day. Canis Lupus Occidentalis has a complete unnatural advantage over ungulate populations in the GYE.
They kill for practice, they kill for fun. They kill and leave dead animals without eating them. There are countless news stories across the west in the past 20+ years confirming this fact, 100 sheep, dozen calves, 19 HEALTHY elk in a single night, etc etc etc.
Cody Roberts should have shot the wolf when he found it, his cruel act was a disservice to hunters and trappers everywhere because of the reaction it causes in people like yourself and others.
Cruel A-holes like Mr Roberts are not common, this has been blown way out of proportion. The continued coverage of this story that has been beaten to death gets its intended result, further emotion driven outrage. Outrage that is then directed towards trappers, hunters etc.. Even responsible trappers are considered cruel barbarians by many of the same people outraged by this story. There is an ongoing effort to end trapping in the mountain west, the day the verdict comes in on Roberts is when the emotion driven hysteria can finally subside.
Chad-
ONE instance of a barbarian running down a wolf with his infernal combustion contraption is too many. Ten incidents are not enough to cause people to rectify the behavior.
If you think such incidents are few and far between , you would be wrong. There have been dozens of incidents of coyotes and probably wolves being pursued and run down by sno-mo’s or ATV’s just in my Park County for as long as I can remember. The perps are stupid enough to brag about it. There are lots of Cody Roberts’ out there… when I was a kid I watched my uncle and his tribe of Neanderthal snowmobilers chase a cow Moose across frozen Yellowstone Lake for fun . This was in the early 1960’s before there was any regulations about sno-mo’s in the Park nor Rangers to prevent them.
Harrassment of wildlife by the Machineheads is ancient history to me, and deplorable to no end.
Because ethical hunters do not use snow mobile or any vehicles to run down and kill wildlife ? And they do not condone this type of hunting . How is that even called hunting?