Karli Sitting Eagle pleaded guilty to the Animal Protection Act (APA) charge of allowing an animal to be in distress, 2(1) on December 1, 2022. In October of 2021, the Alberta SPCA received a public complaint about a kitten potentially in distress on the Siksika First Nation. An investigation was initiated and the Alberta SPCA Peace Officer observed a kitten that appeared to have a broken leg. When the owner failed to take the animal to a veterinarian, the kitten was seized by the Peace Officer and transferred to a veterinary clinic for care.
Ms. Sitting Eagle was subsequently charged under the APA for allowing an animal to be in distress 2(1) and for failing to provide care to an animal that is sick or wounded 2.1(b). Ms. Sitting Eagle pleaded guilty in Provincial Court to a single count of allowing an animal to be in distress and was fined $400.