Cody Roberts, the man who brought an injured wolf into a bar and posed for photos with the muzzled animal, should have his felony animal cruelty charges dismissed instead of having to stand trial, his attorney argued in new court documents.

Robert’s legal counsel, Robert Piper, made that request Friday while filing an amended motion to dismiss the indictment against his client. The seven-page legal document makes the case that Wyoming carved out an exemption in its animal cruelty laws for animals classified as predators, such as wolves. 

The statutes, Piper wrote, “could not be clearer and more precise.” After enacting animal cruelty laws, the Wyoming Legislature “likely” realized that “such a broad prohibition would impact animal husbandry and agriculture throughout the State.”

Then state lawmakers added a “specific, clearly enumerated exception,” establishing that “[n]othing in this article may be construed to prohibit…[t]he hunting, capture, killing or destruction of any predatory animal, pest or other wildlife in any manner not otherwise prohibited by law.”

Piper, who did not respond to an interview request, added emphasis to the words “hunting, capture” and “in any matter.” 

The legal argument Robert’s attorney makes was posed earlier by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, which stated that “animal cruelty laws … do not apply to predatory animals” in an April 2024 press release. The state agency’s initial response to the incident provoked widespread outrage. Wardens fined Roberts $250 for possession of warm-blooded wildlife instead of forcing him to make a mandatory court appearance and face possible stiffer penalties.

Sublette County Prosecuting Attorney Clayton Melinkovich disagreed with wildlife officials’ interpretation of state law. In July, he convened a grand jury. A month later, that 12-person panel indicted the Daniel resident on a charge of felony cruelty to animals, a crime that could put him in prison for up to two years.

Melinkovich declined an interview for this story, but the county attorney confirmed that he will respond to Piper’s motion to dismiss charges. 

Sweetwater County District Court Judge Richard Lavery has scheduled a Jan. 28 hearing to consider the matter. If the case proceeds, Roberts, who pleaded not guilty, is set for a March trial. 

Developments in the legal case against Roberts aren’t the only reason he’s been in the news this week. 

The tactic Roberts allegedly used to acquire the wolf — running it down and striking it with a snowmobile in an act sometimes called “wacking” — is again coming under fire from federal lawmakers. Although prohibitions on the Wyoming recreational tradition have been attempted on the state level several times, lawmakers have not had an appetite for bringing an end to a practice that some members of the livestock industry say they need to pursue predators. 

Out-of-state members of Congress have also taken on the issue. In September 2024, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, was the lead author of a bill dubbed the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act. 

Wyoming’s delegation, including U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, opposed Mace’s bill. “With all due respect to my southern colleagues, we do not need members from districts that do not even drive snowmobiles trying to regulate our western way of life,” Lummis said at the time.

Although the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons Act died last Congress, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill of the same name establishing penalties for “any person who intentionally uses a motor vehicle to harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect a mammalian predator species on Federal land.” 

“Using motor vehicles as weapons against wildlife has no place on our federal lands,” U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, said in a statement. “This legislation makes clear that intentionally harassing, hunting, or killing animals with motor vehicles is unacceptable and will be met with serious consequences.”

In a November court filing, Piper suggested that Roberts may attempt to distance himself from the brutal form of hunting that members of Congress now target. 

“In fact, the Defendant anticipates that one or more witnesses of the State may offer testimony that the said grey wolf was not struck with a snowmobile,” the attorney wrote.