Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons
Ending the sadistic cruelty of running down wild animals with vehicles
The Issue
Snowmobiling is a recreational activity enjoyed by millions. But for a tiny segment of enthusiasts, they use the machines as weapons — running down wildlife and ramming and crushing animals as a form of sadistic pleasure or outright hatred of wildlife.
In 2024, Cody Roberts made global news and international furor by using his snowmobile to mow down a young female wolf before publicly torturing and then killing her at a Wyoming bar. The practice, known as “whacking” or “thumping,” is disturbingly common and is abhorred by any person of conscience.
The Solution
It’s such an appalling form of cruelty that we’ve decided to do something about it. The Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act is one very tangible response, and it would ban intentionally running over a wolf or coyote with a snowmobile on federal lands. Anyone who engages in this practice obviously has some sort of mental pathology and does not know right from wrong.
The SAW Act (H.R.9568 in the 118th Congress) was introduced by Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Don Davis, D-N.C., and has a strong roster of cosponsors.
The national bill is important because most states have not addressed the issue. Those that have, including Colorado and Minnesota, are major hunting and agriculture states and have experienced no controversy in forbidding these activities. The Minnesota law, for nearly four decades since enactment, has met with no objections from ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, or other stakeholders in wolf and coyote policies.
Federal law already has the Airborne Hunting Act, which forbids the use of aircraft to chase down and harass and kill wildlife. We should have a parallel statute for ground-based machines. Given the recent occurrences in Wyoming and the use of snowmobiles to chase, run over, and kill predators in a range of states, the SAW Act is necessary to make it clear that such actions will not be tolerated in a civilized society.
Actions to Take
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