Nearly two years to the day after reports of a wolf being run over with a snowmobile in Sublette County sparked worldwide outrage, animal welfare advocates are still trying to get the practice banned in Wyoming.
Lobbyists, including Austin, Texas, dog trainer and social media influencer Jonas Black, were in the Wyoming Capitol this week, laying the groundwork for a final push toward banning what is commonly called “predator whacking” with snowmobiles and other vehicles.
Building Bridges
Kim Bean, the founder and president of Wolf and Wildlife Advocates, told Cowboy State Daily that chances of getting a whacking ban bill passed during this year’s budget session are slim.
So she and others are playing the long game, trying to connect with as many legislators, Wyoming ranchers and other influential people at the Capitol.
The end goal is to reach broad consensus on a whacking ban. It will probably result in a bill for the 2027 Legislative session, said Bean, who was born and raised in Wyoming, and lives in Colorado.
Bean is closely associated with Black, who couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bean said that she, Black and others are trying to build bridges with people that they might otherwise be at odds with.
“Those conversations are super-important. Nobody gets everything they want, that’s not how life works. But how do we come to best possible solution?” Bean said.
'Disgusting and Abhorrent'
Noted Wyoming outdoorsman Paul Ulrich was behind the push for a 2025 measure, the so-called “clean kill bill,” which passed the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Mark Gordon.
That bill clarified that predators must be killed as quickly as possible and not allowed to suffer. But it stopped short of banning whacking.
Even so, the time has probably come when predator whacking, at least for “sport” purposes, will be banned in Wyoming, he told Cowboy State Daily.
“The ‘hobby’ of whacking predators is disgusting and abhorrent, and should absolutely be banned in Wyoming,” he said.
An important caveat is that ranchers should retain the right to use vehicles “haze” predators away from their livestock, he said.
Bean said that she, Black and other lobbyists know their efforts will be fruitless without support from ranchers.
“It’s Wyoming, I was born and raised there. It (ranching) is the Wyoming way for sure,” she said.
Schmid Wants To Try Again
Rep. Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, also supports a whacking ban. During the 2025 session, he made an unsuccessful attempt to have a whacking ban included in the clean kill bill.
He planned to introduce a whacking ban bill during this session.
“I had the bill up, but it didn’t make introduction. We ran out of time,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
He added that he wants to try again in 2027, if he’s re-elected.
Cody Roberts Awaits Trial
The efforts to ban whacking trace back to the alleged events of Feb. 29, 2024, in and near the tiny town of Daniel in Sublette County.
According to accounts of events that day, local resident Cody Roberts ran down a wolf with his snowmobile.
He allegedly captured the animal, duct-taped its muzzle shut and took it to his home, and then to show off at the Green River Bar in Daniel, before finally killing it out behind the bar.
Roberts forfeited $250 on a Wyoming Game and Fish citation for unlawful possession of a warm-blooded animal, according to court records.
That stoked outrage across the country and around the world, among people who thought he got off too easily.
Later, a grand jury handed down an indictment against Roberts for felony cruelty to animals. A trial for him in that case is set to begin March 9 in Sublette County District Court in Pinedale.
Hogs For Hope
Black was moved by the story of the Daniel wolf, which he calls Hope, to organize the “Hogs For Hope” motorcycle rally from Austin to Daniel.
On May 26, 2024, tensions were high as Black and a caravan of supporters drove through Daniel. Jeers and insults passed between the caravan and some locals, but nobody came to blows.
A second Hogs For Hope rally passed through Daniel in June 2025.
The caravan was greeted by a banner above the Green River Bar reading: “Welcome To Cody Roberts Days.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
