Torture of young adolescent female wolf, battered and then killed, has shocked the conscience of people across the world.
Denver, CO — The Center for a Humane Economy is offering a $15,000 reward to any individual who provides additional evidence to police and prosecutors about Cody Roberts that results in his being sentenced to at least one year in prison for his appalling abuse of a young, female wolf.
Individuals with such information can contact [email protected]. The reward will be divided proportionately among tipsters if multiple people step forward with reliable information.
According to news reports, Roberts ran over and crushed an adolescent female wolf with his snowmobile. He then took her into his possession, bound her mouth with tape, put a shock collar on her, and tormented her for the amusement of himself and friends and family at the Green River Bar in Daniels, Wyo.
“Tens of millions of people are pleading with us to do all within our power to see that Cory Roberts is arrested for cruelty and sentenced to meaningful time in prison,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “We treat it as a solemn responsibility to remind law enforcement of the statutes at their disposal, and to provide incentives to witnesses to report as many details as possible of Roberts’ willful acts toward an innocent animal. This man is a danger to the community, and no reward payments are too high for information that facilitates his prosecution.”
Last week, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action issued a legal analysis detailing that no legal exemption shields Roberts from being charged under the state’s animal cruelty statute, which allows for felony-level penalties.
Sublette County authorities have opened a case, and key information about Roberts’ actions have been shared with law enforcement. One source shared photo with a Wyoming news outlet in which Roberts is posing with the bound, defeated animal while holding what appears to be a can of beer. Other sources provided video of the grievously injured animal unable to move at a bar. The Center for a Humane Economy has compiled some of these images in a short video released today.
Last week, Pacelle attached a name to the young wolf: Theia — named for the Greek goddess of light.
“This young wolf’s trauma should be a light to prosecutors and policy makers in Wyoming and elsewhere in the nation to see that no animal ever endures this kind of malice and savagery,” Pacelle said.
Dozens of people have contacted the animal welfare groups with offers to support their efforts to have charges brought against Roberts. John M. Barr, an attorney in Richmond, Va., is one of those people, and his donation was made specifically to create this reward.
“As an attorney, the rule of law matters to me and the law says ‘no!’ to animal torture,” Barr said. “It broke my heart to see the suffering in the eyes of that young pup with her mouth taped shut to muffle her cries of agony. Theia may be silenced, but I have a moral obligation to help encourage others to speak on her behalf.”
“I am grateful to Mr. Barr for caring enough to reward citizens who share details of a crime that shocks the conscience,” Pacelle said. “He’s not alone in wanting justice delivered and meaningful penalties meted out.”
In addition to demanding a successful prosecution of Roberts, the Center is also calling for four meaningful reforms for wolves:
- Ban the use of snowmobiles to run down and crush animals.
- Abolish the “predator zone” where wolves can be wrongly killed.
- Prohibit the use of hunting dogs.
- Ban the use of wire snares and steel-jawed leghold traps.
On Wednesday, April 17, Jim Keen, DVM., Ph.D., will testify at a Wyoming Game and Fish Commission hearing about the wolf incident, describing the condition of the animal and suggesting legal, administrative, and legislative remedies. A long-time USDA researcher who worked at the National Meat Animal Research Center, Dr. Keen is director of veterinary sciences for the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action. He is a resident of South Dakota and lives on his family’s 140-year-old ranch.
Yesterday, Animal Wellness Action issued a $2,000 reward to Oklahoma City resident Sarah Looney. She provided police with information that led to the arrest of Larry McMillian, who had been caught on a surveillance camera stomping on and killing a puppy. More can be read here. He was charged with cruelty to animals and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.