The wolf-killing case that could change Wyoming

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This commentary was originally published by Writers on the Range.

The Wyoming man who deliberately ran down a wolf with his snowmobile in 2024 didn’t face any consequences, unless you count a $250 fine for “possessing a warm-blooded animal.” But as graphic photos of the wolf’s suffering spread across the nation, public reaction could be summed up as “horrified.”

Still, the Wyoming state Legislature failed to make illegal what Cody Roberts did. After running over the young female wolf with his snowmobile, Roberts paraded the dazed animal — its mouth muzzled shut — through a bar in Daniel. Then he shot the wolf dead.

In reaction, Wyoming’s governor and Legislature passed a bill with no substance, House Bill 275, blandly labeled “Treatment of animals.” An earlier version of that bill proposed explicitly sanctioning running over predators with vehicles, a practice that was already legal and remains so in Wyoming.  

At a hearing before the vote, representatives of Wyoming’s agricultural community defended the practice. One argued that without access to M-44 sodium-cyanide bombs that are now virtually prohibited, they needed to run over wolves and other wildlife with vehicles to protect their livestock.

For a while, it seemed that the old ways of the Cowboy State would persist without question. But over a year later, an attorney for Sublette County convened a grand jury to examine Cody Roberts’ actions, and last week it indicted Roberts on “felony animal cruelty,” an offense punishable by up to 2 years in prison, a fine of $5,000, or both.

Wyoming’s decision leaders may not realize it, but this indictment means that they face a new landscape, which increasingly demands responsible, nuanced responses, as well as humane policies involving animals. This ethic has already emerged in the West. For the most part, Wyoming leaders seem to be taking bad advice from the wrong people and find themselves badly out of step with the rest of the nation.

In a better world, those who work with animals — whether wild or domestic — would use ingenuity to prevent negative interactions with wildlife. Using the blunt force of a snowmobile to “manage” wildlife isn’t wildlife management at all: It is state-sanctioned cruelty.

Roberts needs to be punished. But what’s really at stake is achieving a changed relationship with wildlife in Wyoming. Ethics, not indifference, and a responsible attitude should prevail. And the state’s politicians and leaders need to be at the head of the parade on passing and enforcing laws that reflect the values of their fellow citizens.

In two separate polls, an overwhelming majority of Wyoming residents — including 74% of sportsmen — agreed that running over animals with vehicles is neither ethical nor “fair chase.” Our poll showed 71% of Wyoming residents do not approve of animal cruelty.

The coming years could pose a rare opportunity for sportsmen, conservationists — and also the agricultural community — to find common ground, building a future where humane wildlife stewardship is the norm.

I believe this can happen because precedents exist. Simultaneously with the passage of its HB 275 wolf bill this year, another nightmare had been brewing: Seven legislators proposed a bill to allow year-round hunting and trapping of mountain lions. But hunters and wildlife advocates stood together and shouted a collective “No!”

The Legislature listened. That moment proved something important. When we rise above division and focus on fairness and respect for wildlife, we can protect what makes Wyoming wild and wonderful, and we can do it together.

By dragging that muzzled wolf into a bar, Roberts also dragged Wyoming’s outdated treatment of wildlife into broader public view. In the harsh glare of what became a global spotlight, he may end up having done Wyoming a strange kind of favor. His grotesque actions exposed to the world what many here already knew — that cruelty to wildlife is not tolerated by most Wyoming residents, even if it happens to be protected by law. Those who might think the state should ignore such cruelty grow ever fewer in number.

If there’s any justice to be found in the matter, it rests with the prospect that Roberts’ brutality could spark real change for the better for wolves and other wildlife, for ethics and for Wyoming’s future.