In a rare case of egregious animal torture, a Wyoming man has been cited for tormenting a wolf he captured in Sublette County.
According to reports, the man ran down the wolf with his snowmobile in late February, disabling the animal. Instead of putting the animal out of its misery, the man jumped off his sled and captured it before taking it back to his home. Unfortunately, that’s not where it ended.
Using tape to secure the animal’s mouth, the accused then took the wolf down to the local watering hole. There he paraded the animal around the bar before taking it out back and killing it.
Photos from the event surfaced, helping the investigation which placed the scene of the crime inside the Green River Bar in Daniel, Wyoming. According to the local reports, an anonymous tip came into the department a few days following the incident.
“An anonymous reporting party notified the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that an individual was alleged to be in possession of a live wolf. The reporting party notified the Department on March 1, 2024. According to the investigation, the individual possessed the live wolf on 2/29/24,” according to a statement given to Cowboy State Daily.
“The individual was hunting when he came across the wolf in the predator zone and intended to harvest it. However, the wolf was transported alive back to his residence and later to a business in Daniel, WY. The individual euthanized the wolf later that day. The individual was cited for violating Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife,” according to Game and Fish.
This week officials with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced that someone had been fined and cited for the incident, but did not release a name. Court records revealed that local resident Cody Roberts was cited for a wildlife violation stemming from the day the incident took place.
With a subject as controversial as wolf management, stories like this do nothing to put the hunting community in a positive light. While we all understand that this type of behavior is despicable, there are those who will undoubtedly clump us all together.
This sentiment is particularly true in a state like Wyoming where wolf hunting laws are already under fire. With 85% of the state identifying as a “predator zone”, wolves can be hunted at any time without bag limits or tag requirements in these areas.
With many animal rights groups lobbying for shortened wolf hunting seasons or none at all, this incident is one that is certainly going to be used against us.
