Family of Wyoming hunter who tortured wolf, paraded it around bar then shot it dead out the back DEFEND him - as furious locals demand he face more than $250 fine

Relatives of a Wyoming man who paraded a wolf around a small-town bar before shooting it dead are rushing to his defense, as locals have expressed frustration over him being hit with just a $250 fine.

Cody Roberts, 42, was cited and fined for being in possession of the live wolf in the town of Daniel on February 29, though he has yet to be formally identified.

A firestorm of outrage has been directed at the agency that handed down the judgement, as photos of Roberts harming the animal continue to circulate.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department claims it is in a delicate position, saying statues related to such cases make releasing information difficult.

Amid this fierce public outcry, 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.

'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.

'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. 

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.