Disturbing video shows a wolf being tortured by a small-town hunter in a local bar.
The clips, provided to Cowboy State Daily, come after 42-year-old Cody Roberts paraded the young wolf around the bar in rural Wyoming before shooting it dead.
An investigation followed, after which locals expressed frustration with Roberts only being handed a $250 fine.
The citation and fine for being in possession of the live wolf on February 29 came after photos of him flaunting the animal made rounds on the internet. One showed the animal’s muzzle shut with duct tape, as it cowered next to the apparently proud hunter.
The new videos confirm some of the details of earlier reports surrounding the case, including the animal’s mouth being taped shut and displayed to a beer-drinking crowd in Daniel, before being unceremoniously killed out back.
Disturbing video shows how a Wyoming hunter tortured and paraded a young wolf around the small-town bar back in February
Cody Roberts, 42, also posed with the the exhausted animal, cracking a beaming smile while gripping it by the scruff of the neck and raising a can of beer as patrons watched
Photos posted this past week showed how his relative Jeanne Ivie-Roberts reenacting the scene, putting a piece of duct tape around her own mouth in one. Onlookers, both before and after, expressed outrage
The concerning clips, of which there are two, were provided Wednesday evening by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department – the agency that handed down the fine.
In both of them, an exhausted and pitiful-looking wolf can be seen languishing on the floor in a location not disclosed by the agency.
In the first, the animal has a muzzle on its face, and looks to be tired and despondent.
In the second, the wolf’s face isn’t completely visible, but it can be seen slowly moving its eyes and one of its hind legs.
The wolf in both clips bears a stark resemblance to the animal in a photograph that spawned the outrage – in which, instead of a muzzle, a piece of duct tape is forcing the wolf’s mouth shut.
A jovial Roberts is seen posing next to it, gleefully raising a can of beer while gripping the wolf – only a yearling – by the scruff of the neck.
The photo with the animal was taken hours before its death, hence much of the outrage.
He then took the wolf away behind the bar and tortured it before shooting it dead.
The wolf in both clips bears a stark resemblance to the animal in a photograph that spawned the outrage – in which, instead of a muzzle, a piece of duct tape is forcing the wolf’s mouth shut.
In the first, the animal has a muzzle on its face, and looks to be tired and despondent. In another, seen here, the wolf’s face isn’t completely visible, but it can be seen slowly moving its eyes and one of its hind legs
Not long after this photo was taken, witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar (pictured) as patrons watched. Flooring in the photo coincides with the hardwood seen in the clips, which seemingly provides insight into the wolf’s final moments
That happened hours after he first encountered the wolf, running it over with a snowmobile. The wolf was reportedly injured when he came across it.
He then hauled it over to the Green River Bar, where the photo was taken.
Flooring seen in the photograph coincides with the hardwood seen in the new videos, which appears to provide valuable new insight into the wolf’s final moments.
Photos of Roberts harming the animal, meanwhile, continue to circulate, leading many to call for a more pronounced punishment.
Roberts’ relative Jeanne Ivie-Roberts has been one of the few to express support, taking to social media to do so.
In a public post penned Friday, commenters rallied behind her questionable cause.
‘Absolutely support you Cody Roberts,’ wrote one such onlooker, responding to a remark from Ivie-Roberts that expressed her ‘love and support.’
‘Hope everything is OK. I’ll say prayers…’ added another, as others posted Bitmojis sending ‘hugs’.
Ivie-Roberts – a family member of the hated hunter – expressed her support in a post to Facebook this past week, after which others rallied behind her and Roberts
The post has garnered more than 422 likes and 63 comments, most of them expressing sympathy for Roberts’ situation. It is legal to kill wolves in Wyoming, but not to torture them
‘I agree Jeanne! Love & support Cody,’ added someone else.
‘Supporting Cody!!’ exclaimed another.
‘I’m with him!!! I’ll bring the duct tape.’
The original post, within four days of its posting, has garnered more than 422 likes and 63 comments, most of them expressing sympathy for Roberts’ situation.
Others, however, conveyed the complete opposite, as the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told Cowboy State Daily Monday the agency isn’t being secretive about the torment and killing of the wolf.
‘Cruelty should never be condoned!’ exclaimed one person from that school of thought, as others asserted that it is legal in Sublette County to hunt such game.
‘No reason for that BS behavior!’ the commenter added.
‘Sounds to me (as a complete outsider) that he made a bad decision and is more then likely regretting it,’ another griped. ‘Let those of you who are without sin cast the first stone.’
A petition demanding harsher punishment for Roberts made rounds as well, receiving 2,242 signatures.
In it, authors laid out how the female wolf was tortured and killed at the hands of the hunter February 29.
A father and owns a trucking company, Roberts ran the wolf down with a snowmobile, officials said – but instead of killing the animal then and there, he kept it, took it home and brought it to the bar (seen here on a different date)
Others, however, conveyed the complete opposite, as the director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told Cowboy State Daily Monday the agency isn’t being secretive about the torment and killing of the wolf
‘Cody Roberts was cited a minuscule $250 for “being in possession of a live wolf,”‘ the petition states as wildlife officials elected to not official identify Roberts at the time.
‘However, the fine for animal cruelty in the state of Wyoming is up to 2 years in prison and a fine of $5,000.
‘This wolf was kept alive to endure suffering for an extended period of time’, authors wrote, citing witnesses who said Roberts paraded the animal around the Green River for hours before finally putting it out of its misery.
That happened after it was pursued to exhaustion by Cody Roberts’ snowmobile hours earlier, officials said in a heavily redacted report, which claimed the man responsible – now confirmed to be the local trucker – kept it alive instead of killing it on the spot in accordance with local laws.
Citing this report in conjunction with accounts from witnesses, the petition recalled: ‘Following being run down, Cody taped its mouth shut, and paraded it around in a bar before finally shooting it.
‘There must be a harsher penalty for this horrible case.’
The petition was started Saturday – two days before the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Director Brian Nesvik at last addressed allegations that he’s been perhaps too lenient with the man accused of torturing the less than two-year-old wolf.
Roberts’ social media accounts show how he is an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals alongside his kids (pictured here)
He also addressed claims his agency has deliberately withheld information about the incident after not naming Roberts, insisting Cowboy State Daily that’s not the case.
That assertion was delivered Monday, more than a month removed from the incident in question.
At the time, Nesvik said Game and Fish could not officially confirm the torturer’s identity, citing local statues.
However, photos did so already, as well as several witness accounts.
Then, on Wednesday, Nesvik’s agency finally addressed any doubt – finally offering a brief incident report, though still with several parts redacted.
In it, Roberts is finally named as the wolf-torturer, though his date of birth is redacted.
The report adds that Roberts, upon being questioned, admitted ‘he did possess a live wolf on 2/29/24’, before telling officials that he illegally brought the animal to his house before ‘[transporting] it to a business in Daniel.’
According to accounts provided an anonymous source, the business was a local bar – a revelation that is somewhat telling concerning the town’s small size.
On Monday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Director Brian Nesvik addressed allegations that he’s been too lenient with Roberts, but refused to name him as the man responsible. A report issued two days later, along with the videos, has erased any doubt
The report also states that ‘On 3/4/24 Roberts agreed to meet with [Game and Fish officials] in Pinedale, which he did with a lawyer present.
‘The violation for possession of a live wolf was explained to Roberts at that time,’ officials wrote.
The report also verifies Roberts’ responsibility in the case – showing a “guilty” judgement and that a $250 fine was demanded.
In Wyoming, it is legal to hunt wolves, though keeping animals alive before killing them is illegal, and warrants animal cruelty charges.
Roberts did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment, as the story continues to gain traction on social media.