Dear editor,
I was raised in northwestern Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. I was raised alongside proud hunters and cowboys and ranchers my entire childhood — men and women and children who love and respect nature, who work to preserve the land, proud generations of stewards and stewardship.
Though I now live in wild and wonderful West Virginia, I consider Wyoming one of the most beautiful and majestic states in our country — it’s God’s country, I would dare say.
And I say that having spent many months of my life in Wyoming, not just days as a yokel tourist — I’ve lived there, yes. And my time in Wyoming is a precious memory, every second.
That said, what Cody Roberts did to an animal, no matter how predatory the animal — taping its mouth and parading it in a bar before having the decency to end its suffering by shooting it?
That is atrocious. That is an abomination. That is a crime. And yes, your paper should absolutely continue to cover this story.
What Cody Roberts did has nothing to do with Western values, nor any values — what, his wife wasn’t safe from harm while Roberts was showing off the mortally injured animal in a bar?
How deranged can you get—and don’t you dare blame this backlash on people outside the state.
What Cody Roberts did shames the entire state of Wyoming, its people, its history, and it is truly repugnant.
No animal on this planet tapes the mouth of a human being and parades them in their agony at a bar for drunken sport: there is no absolutely excuse for his barbarism.
Cody Roberts deserves exactly the notoriety and international attention he is receiving: by his actions, he has earned every word to the letter.
And may God have mercy, indeed.
Courtney Eldridge
Charleston, West Virginia
