City residents should stay out of the ongoing battle over Wyoming rancher Cody Roberts, who killed a wolf after parading it around his local bar with its mouth taped shut.
That’s the opinion of her aunt Jeanne Ivie-Roberts, who caused outrage by posing dressed in a wolf skin with duct tape over her own mouth.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ivie-Roberts, who works at the Green River Bar in the small town of Daniel where the animal was taken, insisted her nephew did nothing wrong and says people in the town don’t understands the problems that wild wolves cause.
“I posted that photo on Facebook knowing it was going to cause a shit storm,” the 59-year-old said. ‘People have no idea how much damage wolves cause to livestock and domestic animals here.
“Cody, his children and the Green River Bar do not deserve the death threats,” he added.
Cody Roberts, 42, captured an injured wolf after hitting it with his snowmobile and paraded it around a local bar before killing it. He is photographed with the animal.
His aunt Jeanne Ivie-Roberts defended Roberts, telling DailyMail.com: “People have no idea the damage wolves cause to livestock and domesticated animals.”
Ivie-Roberts insisted that only country people understand the true nature of wolves. The small town of Daniel only has 108 inhabitants.
Roberts, 42, was fined $250 for being in possession of a live wolf, sparking outrage among animal rights activists.
He was not punished for the death of the year-old animal, since it is legal to kill wolves in Wyoming.
Video released Wednesday by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar as patrons discuss its fate.
“He’s getting ready to leave,” a man is heard saying.
Ivie-Roberts insisted that only country people understand the true nature of wolves.
“Have you ever met a rancher who had to go out and sacrifice his son’s horse because it was attacked by a wolf the night before?” she asked.
‘Have you lost thousands of dollars worth of livestock because a pack of wolves came out and killed the calves?
“These wolves kill for sport, they not only kill and then eat their prey, but they kill for practice.”
Ivie-Roberts said a pack of wolves recently killed 17 elk just for sport in the area.
“The wolf attacks the tendon on the back of the animal’s leg or opens the stomach area, causing the animal to bleed to death,” he said.
Roberts ran over the wolf on a snowmobile on February 29. He then took it to the bar, known locally as GRB, to show it to his drinking buddies.
Ivie-Roberts also said he has no problem taping the wolf’s mouth shut, comparing it to a dog’s snout and noting that when wolves were first reintroduced to Wyoming in 1995, they were brought from Canada, muzzled and caged with legs tied.
‘How exactly do you torture a wolf?’ she asked. ‘Wolves are evil animals. They destroy our livelihoods.
‘It’s easy to judge from some big city far away, but until you experience the damage these animals can cause, you don’t really have room to talk about it.
“We have to deal with this every day.”
Photos released last week showed Ivie-Roberts apparently recreating the scene seen in her now-viral photo, putting a piece of duct tape around her own mouth in one.
Video released Wednesday by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows the clearly injured animal lying in the corner of the bar as patrons discuss its fate.
The animal has a muzzle and appears to be tired and dejected as it lies on the bar.
But animal lovers disagree with Ivie-Roberts’ opinion.
“The gray wolf is a misunderstood creature,” Lori Wynn, executive director of Guardians for Wolves, told DailyMail.com.
‘Wolves are not mindless killers. “They balance their own populations by coming into conflict with other herds,” he said, adding that they also avoid humans whenever possible.
“The innocent wolf that Cody killed mattered,” Wynn added. “She was vital to our environment.”
Wynn said wildlife officials in Wyoming recognize wolves are valuable because they help control elk overpopulation in the state.
The group has produced a change.org petition calling for Roberts to be punished more harshly. He has obtained more than 100,000 signatures.
But Ivie-Roberts said that after posting her now-infamous photo on Facebook, her nephew called her and asked “what it felt like to be the second most hated person in the world.”
Cody told him that he was the most hated and thanked him for “taking some pressure off of him.”
Roberts expressed remorse for his actions and apologized, according to TJ Hunt, whose wife Nan owns the Green River Bar.
‘He realized he had made a mistake. He wishes he could change what happened, I just told him to stop doing stupid things,” Hunt told DailyMail.com. ‘I put it down to another stupid kid doing stupid things.
“I’ve known him for years, he’s a good guy, I said, ‘Cody, start thinking about what the hell you’re doing.’
Roberts declined to discuss the case with DailyMail.com.
Witnesses said Roberts dragged or carried the animal through the Green River Bar while patrons watched.
Animal rights groups are calling for the Sublette County sheriff and prosecutor to file felony animal cruelty charges against him. A petition on change.org has so far garnered more than 100,000 signatures.
Hunt said his wife’s bar is being unfairly singled out and threatened over reports that Roberts brought the injured wolf to the bar and paraded it.
“I don’t agree with what Cody did,” Hunt added. ‘I should have shot the animal on the spot instead of bringing it in while he was still alive to show it.
“A lot of hunters around here aren’t very happy with what he did either.”
‘Wolves are predatory animals, if they pose a danger to a rancher or an individual, you need to get rid of them, but there is a proper way to do it and Cody didn’t do it.
But he has a wife and three children and has been receiving death threats. What he did was stupid and unethical, but I don’t think he should live in fear for his family.
Wyoming Game and Fish spokesperson Breanna Ball told DailyMail.com that the department was “disappointed” by Roberts’ actions and said they “do not reflect our value to wildlife in the state of Wyoming.”
‘In fact, what we believe in the actions that came to light in this case were disrespectful to wildlife and cast a shadow over our state’s proven track record in responsibly managing gray wolf populations. “We do not condone this behavior.”
Ball further stated that “animal cruelty charges are not applicable to predatory animals and wolves are considered predatory animals.”
Roberts appears to be an avid hunter who frequently hunts wild animals along with his children.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon weighed in on the incident, saying on social media: “Our office has received considerable communication regarding the actions of an individual involving a wolf that occurred earlier this winter in Wyoming County. Sublette.
‘I want to make my position on this matter absolutely clear.
‘Cruelty towards any wild animal is absolutely unacceptable. This is not the way anyone should treat any animal.
“I am outraged by this incident, as are thousands of ranchers, farmers, sportsmen and others in Wyoming and others across the state,” Gordon added.
I would be disappointed if someone painted Wyoming with a broad brush and suggested that the citizens of Wyoming condone the reckless, thoughtless and heinous actions of one individual.’
Animal rights groups are calling for the Sublette County sheriff and prosecutor to file felony animal cruelty charges against him.
Sheriff KC Lehr said he could not speak about the incident as it is the subject of an active investigation.