Wyoming wolf killer pleads not guilty to animal cruelty charges
Cory Roberts chased the young wolf with a snowmobile, struck her with the machine, then brought her into a bar where she was tormented for hours before he shot her.
Screenshots from a video clip show a weak and injured wolf wearing a muzzle and a shock collar lying on the floor in a corner of a building, presumably the Green River Bar.
A Wyoming man who ran down a wolf on a snowmobile and brought her into a bar in 2024 has pleaded ‘not guilty’ for felony animal cruelty.
Cody Roberts appeared virtually in court for the first time on Monday afternoon. The defendant told Sweetwater County District Court Judge Richard Lavery that he understood the charges being brought against him.
Roberts “knowingly and with intent to cause undue suffering” … “tortured or tormented” a “gray wolf,” Lavery read from the charging document.
If convicted, Roberts faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 under Wyoming law.
Cody Roberts of Daniel reportedly tormented a live wolf by capturing the animal, taping her mouth shut, and parading her around his local bar. He then took the wolf outside and allegedly tortured her before shooting her dead.
An eyewitness also explained to WyoFile how Roberts dragged the wolf into the bar and left her there for hours while he drank.
Screenshots from a video clip show a weak and injured wolf lying motionless on the floor in a corner of a building, presumably the Green River Bar.
When photos of Roberts tormenting the live wolf, as well as footage of the exhausted animal lying on the floor of a bar wearing a muzzle and a shock collar, went viral, people around the world were horrified, with outraged citizens, animal advocates, and even hunters condemning the abuse
More than 15,000 Species Unite supporters directly contacted Sublette County Sheriff K.C. Lehr, urging him to ensure the wolf, nicknamed Hope by activists, received justice.
“Parading an injured, terrified animal with his mouth taped shut around a bar is clearly an example of torment and emotional torture. This is a felony offense, which is punishable with up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
”Cody Roberts must be sentenced to jail time so that he can be rehabilitated and no longer a violent danger to society,” the letter adds.”
Despite the public outrage, at the time Roberts received only a $250 fine for violating Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife. The fine was not for the tormenting or killing of the wolf but was instead due to state law prohibiting the possession of wolves.
Although Sublette County law enforcement took a different view, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department maintained that the state’s animal cruelty laws, which carry stronger penalties, did not apply because the wolf was classified as a “predatory animal.” The county undertook its own investigation, which remained active for more than a year as officials weighed a potential felony animal cruelty charge against Roberts, leading to his indictment by a grand jury in August 2025.
Animal advocates are now hopeful that Roberts will finally face consequences for his actions.
Roberts’ trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 9, 2026.
Cody Roberts poses for a photo with a drink and a wild wolf who has had her mouth taped shut.
Anti-wolf hysteria
Trophy hunters, trappers, farmers, and predator control agents across the US, continue to advocate for limiting or decimating wolf populations based on misconceptions of their impact on livestock. The reality is that wolves are responsible for less than one percent of all livestock deaths.
In 2022 a judge reinstated wolves on the Endangered Species List but excluded those in the Northern Rocky Mountains, which includes Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
In Wyoming, hunters are permitted to kill an unlimited number of wolves year-round across 80 percent of the state without needing a license. These allowances even extend to wolf pups and hunters are permitted to use any killing method, including running the animals down with snowmobiles.
As well as calling for justice for the wolf tormented and killed in Wyoming, Species Unite is pushing for wolves to be relisted on the Endangered Species List.
“I shudder to think about the terror and the pain that this poor wolf endured. She was a juvenile, a one-year-old,” said Elizabeth Novogratz, Executive Director of Species Unite. “Let's not let her have died in vain, but instead use this horrific incident as an opportunity to help wolves. This is the moment for change. They need to be on the Endangered Species List, especially in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.”
What can you do?
Join the movement to restore federal protections for gray wolves by returning them to the Endangered Species List. We’re urging Secretary Burgum to use his authority to halt the widespread killing of wolves before further, irreversible harm is done. Please stand with Species Unite and add your voice to this call for action.
Running animals over with snowmobiles should never be legal. Please join Species Unite in urging the Wyoming State Legislature to ban “wolf whacking”. Add your name here.
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