JEERS to a legal system that gave deranged wolf killer Cody Roberts a slap on the wrist— just 18 months of supervised probation and a measly $1,432 fine—instead of two years in prison, when he was sentenced yesterday for a single count of felony animal cruelty.  Roberts tortured a wolf he ran over in Wyoming by dragging the animal into a bar to parade her around before killing her.

This case highlights a larger issue—that in states like Wyoming the mangling and torture of wild animals are still legal or considered nonviolent. 

Friends of Animals pressed the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission and the Sublette Country Sheriff’s office to bring animal cruelty charges against Roberts and to pass laws that would better protect Wyoming’s predators in the future—such as prohibiting the sick practice of running down predators using snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles. This lenient penalty communicates a strong message that Wyoming is a playground of impunity to continue such acts of obscene cruelty.