A Wyoming hunter has sparked outrage after he captured a wolf, taped it over its mouth, paraded it around a bar and tortured it before finally killing it.
Cody Roberts, 42, of Daniel, was charged with a wildlife violation in connection with the Feb. 29 vomiting incident. Cowboy State Daily reported.
Shocking photos obtained by news outlets showed Mr Roberts posing with the wolf at his home, with red tape wrapped tightly around its muzzle.
The suspect incapacitated the wolf when he ran it over with his snowmobile, but instead of killing the wolf, which is legal in the Sublette County area where the incident occurred, he took the wolf to his home and then to a bar. He said he went there.
Roberts eventually took the injured animal from behind the bar and killed it, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
“This is terrible,” said Rob Wallace, who oversaw the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service as assistant secretary of the interior in the Trump administration.
“Wyoming represents the best state in wildlife management, but this is a sad and horrifying outlier,” he told the outlet. “I don’t think this represents us as a nation in any way.”
Wyoming Game and Fish spokeswoman Brianna Ball told Cowboy State Daily that an anonymous tip came in on March 1.
“While hunting, the individual encountered a wolf in the predator zone and attempted to capture it. However, the wolf was brought alive to his home and then to a company in Daniel, Wyoming. ” she said in a statement.
“The person euthanized the wolf later that day. This person was charged with violating Chapter 10, ‘Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife,'” Ball added.
Roberts was fined $250 for the violation, but Fish said it was a penalty game and the only fine he had the authority to enforce.
According to the newspaper, the callous mistreatment of wolves is not illegal under state law. People may be charged with animal cruelty, but that only applies to pets and livestock, not predators like wolves.
