Citizens across Wyoming and the nation have been sickened by the wolf torture and killing in Wyoming. We needn’t be surprised. Since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife delisted the gray wolf, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho allow chokehold snares, night-vision goggles, killing wolves from planes or helicopters, all-terrain vehicles, bait stations, hounds, and bounties to kill wolves. Wyoming has no restrictions, and no license is required. Snowmobiles can legally run over and crush wolves. Videos online show wolves being run over repeatedly till they die.
Studies show that liberalizing the killing of wolves increases poaching and wolf disappearances. Wyoming and the other states have taken it a step further and legalized cruelty. Cody Roberts’ torment and torture of a young wolf made Wyoming’s current practice visible to the nation. Roberts’ behavior, like others, has been legally sanctioned, accepted, and rewarded in Wyoming, and has been happening for a while. It just wasn’t supposed to make the news. Once the Wyoming Fish and Game was notified, they kept silent and issued a $250 fine for possession of a wild animal. Business as usual. The agency didn’t notify the Sublette County Sheriff, and once notified, the sheriff deplored Roberts’ behavior but stated he didn’t break the law. With a mere $250 fine, Wyoming has ensured the cruel torture of wildlife will happen again.
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After a month of silence, a leak sparked national outrage. We’ve seen the pictures. videos and read countless headlines. We’ve learned of multiple agencies’ complicity: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife who de-listed the wolf should have anticipated the heinous legislation and attack on wolves; the Wyoming Fish and Game Department should have avoided a minimalist “business as usual” approach; the Sublette County Sheriff’s Department should have thought outside the box and found ways to prosecute; and the patrons in the bar should have shown some integrity and stopped the disgusting display.
The cork is now out of the bottle, and a nation sickened by the lack of justice is taking on the systems that continue to allow it.
As a licensed psychologist who specializes in child behavior disorders, I’ve conducted hundreds of evaluations on children, many of whom engage in cruelty towards animals and people. I evaluate kids who make lethal threats to schools and am a consultant and national trainer on children and behavior disorders. Animal cruelty can be an early sign of conduct-disordered behavior. It is repetitive and enduring, with a poor outcome in adulthood.
While not every child who is cruel to animals grows up to become a criminal, there is a strong correlation between cruel behavior toward animals and a lack of empathy for human beings. The majority of adults who commit violent crimes have a history of animal cruelty in childhood. Up to 70% of the most serious and violent offenders in prison have repeated and severe episodes of animal abuse in their history.
Wyoming has a sanctioned and permissive systemic acceptance of wildlife cruelty. Children learn cruel and violent behavior from those around them and it is often multi-generational. Wyoming Speaker of the House, Albert Sommers, of Pinedale, says he knows Roberts and he’s a decent guy. Decent guys don’t torture animals. Engaging in animal torture and cruelty as a 42-year-old probably isn’t a one-off, it’s most likely happened before and will happen again. And it’s not exclusive to Roberts. Individuals who torture and kill wolves with snowmobiles and ATVs and crave attention for their actions by parading the event in person or on film have undoubtedly shown these patterns of behavior since childhood. These thrill seekers often have high impulsivity combined with low empathy. They demonstrate feelings of narcissism, manipulation, grandiosity, entitlement, dominance, and superiority. Their less positive attitudes toward animals are associated with higher levels of narcissism, psychopathy, and antisocial behavior.
As bystanders, the patrons in the bar reinforced Roberts as they took pictures and videos while Roberts, holding a beer, posed with the defenseless, injured wolf whose mouth was taped shut. They then allowed him to take the wolf behind the bar and kill it. The Bystander Effect has been well-studied for decades. Grouped together, the bar patrons and employees shunned personal responsibility to intervene and stop the heinous torture. It would have only taken one. Research indicates that if only one person in a group takes a stand against cruel behavior, it’s likely to change the behavior, without harm to the upstander who speaks out.
Hunters across Wyoming and the country speaking out against Roberts’ behavior should be applauded. They’re concerned that Roberts’ behavior will impact lenient wolf hunting regulations nationwide. Instead, they should start cleaning their own house and demonstrate the type of upstanding behavior that shuns behavior like Roberts’. They should actively support legislation to change cruel and inhumane practices towards wildlife.
If they don’t, the nation will.
— Susan Kane-Ronning, PHD is a licensed psychologist in Whatcom County, Washington.