Wyoming is famous for its wildlife rock stars like Grizzly 399 and Hoback the moose, which have helped make tourism one of the state’s top industries.
But the past couple of years have seen current or former Wyoming residents embroiled in a string of accusations of cruelty to wild animals, leaving some to ponder the damage to the state’s reputation.
Most recently, three men were slapped with charges of felony cruelty to animals and accessory to felony cruelty over the alleged capture and torment of a cow moose in Uinta County.
That case has sparked widespread outrage and was publicly condemned by the Wyoming Sportsmanship group.
It remains unclear whether backlash over the moose incident will reach the level of global furor sparked by the alleged capture, torture and killing of a wolf in the tiny Sublette County town of Daniel in early 2024.
Wyoming Sportsmanship was formed in response to the Daniel wolf incident. The group was instrumental in the passage of a bill before the 2025 Wyoming Legislature, which expanded cruelty to animals' statutes to include predatory animals, such as wolves.
The Uinta County moose case certainly isn’t helping Wyoming’s reputation, avid outdoorsman Zachary Key of La Barge told Cowboy State Daily.
“It makes us look like a bunch of freaking jackasses,” he said.
Wyoming legislator Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, told Cowboy State Daily that allegations of the moose being roped, dragged and ridden in Uinta County runs counter to the University of Wyoming’s slogan, “The world needs more Cowboys.”
“It’s kind of hard to push UW’s cry, ‘the world needs more cowboys,’ when this kind of stuff is going on, allegedly by so-called cowboys. This just pisses me off,” he said.
Felony Charges
There continues to be fallout over the Daniel wolf incident, which happened in February 2024.
Local resident Cody Roberts allegedly ran down a wolf with his snowmobile, captured it, duct-taped its muzzle shut and then took it to his home.
According to reports, he later took the wolf to show off in the Green River bar in Daniel, before taking out behind the bar and killing it.
In November, Roberts pleaded not guilty to a felony cruelty to animal charge.
A trial is set for March 9 in Sublette County District Court in Pinedale.
In Uinta County, cowboys Justin Martin, 53 of Evanston, Range H. Martin of Evanston and Kylan W. Platt of Malad City, Idaho, allegedly roped, rode and dragged a cow moose in 2021.
Video allegedly showing those actions recently emerged and became the basis of charges against them.
Justin Martin is charged with two counts of accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals, and two counts of accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal, a cow moose.
Range Martin and Platt are both charged with felony cruelty to animals, wanton taking of big game animal and possession of live warm-blooded wildlife without a permit.
They have been ordered to appear on Jan. 15 to face charges.
Horse And Wombat Incidents Also Caused Outrage
In March, Albany County resident Stuart Schmidt, 60, was charged with felony cruelty to wildlife. He allegedly rammed a wild horse with an ATV, and the horse had to be euthanized.
Also in March, former Wyoming resident and social media influencer Samantha Strable faced widespread condemnation after a video emerged, reportedly showing her snatching a baby wombat from in front of its mother in Australia.
She was publicly blasted by the Australian prime minister.
Strable made headlines again in November, when she was charged for numerous alleged hunting-related violations in Wyoming.
All of that adds up to a string of bad publicity for the state, Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs told Cowboy State Daily.
In addition to the high-profile wolf and moose cases, “you have the man who ran over the wild horse and the lady grabbing the wombat,” she said.
“The hits keep coming, for sure, right now,” she added.
‘Childish And Stupid’
After the Daniel wolf story blew up, hunters rushed to distance themselves from Roberts' alleged actions, stating that hunting ethics have no place for such things.
Cowboys have had similar reactions the alleged roping and riding of the moose in Uinta County, Schmid, the Wyoming legislator, said.
“I know a lot of ranchers and cowboys in my district, and they treat the animals they use and work with respect. What happened in this case isn’t cowboy behavior. It was reckless and cruel, childish and stupid,” he said.
“The so-called cowboys in this incident give real cowboys a bad name, and in my opinion, they deserve to be sentenced to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
During the 2025 session, Schmid introduced legislation that would have banned running over predators with snowmobiles or other vehicles, commonly called “whacking.”
That effort failed, but he said he plans to try again during the 2026 session.
“I do plan on introducing another bill, similar to what I tried last session,” he said.
“Being a budget year, it will be difficult to move it, but it can serve as a placeholder and won’t be forgotten or fall through the cracks,” Schmid added.
Meanwhile, he said he’s concerned about Wyoming’s reputation in light of the animal cruelty cases.
“I do worry about Wyoming’s reputation. This kind of stupidity, in my opinion, may eventually create more laws and regulation that could affect our hunting heritage as we know it today,” he said.
A Clear Distinction
Key said there’s a clear distinction between ethical hunting and ranching, and what was allegedly done to the moose.
“It was a very poor choice, definitely not a Wyoming value,” he said.
He doesn’t think that the cruelty to animals charges brought against defendants in the moose case could ever be applied to hunting situation – such as a hunter making a poor shot and wounding an animal.
Combs agreed that the cruelty to animals statutes, as written, create a clear distinction between deliberately capturing and torturing a wild animal, versus a hunter making an honest mistake.
“I think this (the Unita moose case) is a pretty egregious example. It’s an example of why the law was written to begin with,” she said.
She said the charge against Roberts could have opened the door to people feeling more comfortable about coming forward and reporting cruelty to animals.
And prosecutors might be more comfortable filing charges, she added.
“I really hope that now, Wyoming is turning the corner. That this stuff is not getting shoved to the side anymore, and a ‘boys will be boys’ type of excuse won’t be used for it,” she said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
