Two years ago, Wyoming resident Cody Roberts used his snowmobile to run down a juvenile wolf, which is legal under state law. However, Roberts didn't finish off the wolf and instead tied it up and brought it into a local bar, where he paraded it around, took pictures, finally got bored, and then killed it out back. The incident drew sharp international infamy, as pretty much everyone decried what Roberts did.
Wyoming's legislature has taken shots at narrowing the practice's guardrails numerous times, but each has failed due to heavy farm and agricultural lobbying. And clarifications through the Department of Natural Resources within the state haven't yielded the results many have wanted. However, Roberts' case was taken up by prosecutors who are now arguing that the snowmobiler violated animal cruelty laws, but it's been back and forth a couple of times now as each side has had to argue the merits of the felony charges.
Recently, Roberts' legal team argued that animal cruelty charges don't apply to predator populations, nor apply due to Congress moving to delist wolves, within the state. The judge, however, didn't see it that way and threw out Roberts' argument, allowing the case to proceed to trial. And the judge didn't mince words about Roberts' arguments.
