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7 months ago
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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 proud hunter
The new videod 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 reneacting the scene, putting a piece of duct tape around her own mouth in one
The perturbing clips were provided Wednesday evening by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department - the agency that handed down the fine.
In them, an exhausted and pitiful-looking wolf can be seen languishing on the floor in a location not disclosed by the agency.
Despite this, Roberts has only just been identified - after a firestorm of outrage directed not only toward him, but
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, however, claims it is in a delicate position, saying statues related to such cases make releasing information difficult.
As photos of Roberts harming the animal continue to circulate, Roberts' relative Jeanne Ivie-Roberts has expressed her support.
In a social media post published Thursday, commenters rallied behind her - and his - questionable cause.
'Absolutely support you Cody Roberts,' wrote one such onlooker, responding to a remark from Ivie-Roberts that expressed her own 'love and support.'
'Hope everything is OK. I'll say prayers...' added another, as others posted Bitmojis sending 'hugs'.
'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 alleged 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.
The post has garnered more than 422 likes and 63 comments, most of them expressing sympathy for Roberts' situation
Not long after this photo was taken, witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar (pictured) as patrons looked on
'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 female wolf - only a yearling - was tortured and killed at the hands of the hunter on February 29.
'Cody Roberts was cited a minuscule $250 for 'being in possession of a live wolf,'' the petition recalled.
'However, the fine for animal cruelty in the state of Wyoming is up to 2 years in prison and a fine of $5,000'
Authors then point how how ' [t]his wolf was kept alive to endure suffering for an extended period of time', after Roberts elected to parade it around the Green River Bar in Daniel with duct tape around its snout.
That happened after it was pursued to exhaustion by Cody Roberts' snowmobile hours earlier - after which the local trucker kept it alive instead of killing it on the spot.
The petition asserted: 'Following being run down, Cody taped its mouth shut, and paraded it around in a bar before finally shooting it.
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 alleged torment and killing of the wolf
A father and owns a trucking company, Roberts ran the wolf down with a snowmobile- but instead of killing the animal there and then, 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 alleged torment and killing of the wolf
'There must be a harsher penalty for this horrible case.'
The petition was started this past Saturday - two days before the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's Director Brian Nesvik addressed allegations that he's been perhaps to lenient with the man accused of torturing the less than two-year-old wolf.
He also addressed claims his agency has deliberately withheld information about the incident, claiming that's not the case.
Paraphrasing a paragraph of the Cowboy State Daily article, he seemed to assert that Game and Fish are working to navigate though tricky difficult territory that involves both responding to legitimate requests for public records while also trying to follow a state statue that requires certain information about wolf hunts to remain confidential.
Because of this, Nesvik on Monday said Game and Fish could not confirm the identity of the person who had been cited and fined $250 for illegally possessing the live wolf the day of February 29, despite photos proving that already.
Others on Roberts' social media accounts show how he is an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals with his kids, while Sublette County Circuit Court records showed he was cited for a wildlife violation the day of the incident in question.
Public records also revealed Roberts has a hunting and fishing license, while an album of photos posted this past week showed Ivie-Roberts seemingly reenacting the scene seen in her relative's now viral photo, putting a piece of duct tape around her own mouth - instead of the wolf's muzzle - in one.
Based on Roberts' social media accounts, he appears to be an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals alongside his kids (pictured here)
On Monday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's Director Brian Nesvik addressed allegations that he's been perhaps to lenient with the man accused of torturing the less than two-year-old wolf. The agency is looking into the incident
Roberts did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment, as the story continues to gain traction on social media.
That's all due to the photo of Roberts posing with the exhausted animal allegedly hours before its death, cracking a beaming smile while gripping it by the scruff of the neck and raising a can of beer as if to make a toast.
The wolf, which was injured when Roberts ran it over with a snowmobile, had its mouth taped shut and cowered like an abused puppy, as patrons reportedly drank and looked on.
He then took the wolf away behind the bar, allegedly tortured it, then shot it dead.
About 85 percent of Wyoming is a 'predator zone' for wolves - meaning that the wild animals can be killed at any time with no bag limit or hunting days required.
However, keeping the animals alive before killing them is illegal, and warrants animal cruelty charges.
Wyoming Game And Fish is looking into the incident.
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