The cat from the video is doing well and recovering
Mounties are investigating allegations of animal abuse in a small central Alberta community following multiple reports prompted by a quickly-spreading social media video. Play House
Wyatt Chalifoux posted the 39-second clip to the video-sharing platform TikTok, showing him and a woman taking a caged, wet cat from a person out front of a home in Big Valley, Alta., located 100 kilometres southeast of Red Deer.
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The video’s description alleges the man shown is “go(ing) around town trapping and drowning people’s cats.”
“You’ve got issues, man. How dare you do that to a living creature,” says the woman.
“You want me to put you in a bucket of water?” adds Chalifoux.
In the video, the man in question states cats come into his yard and “go after” his dog.
Since it was posted, the clip has amassed nearly two million views on TikTok and further exposure through social media platforms and accounts.
Chalifoux spoke with Postmedia on Sunday, providing further context to the viral video. He said he was speaking with the woman in the video when they heard a cat in distress. They walked to a nearby property where they saw “a five-gallon pail with a garbage bag over the top.”
“The noise is coming from there; you can see the bag moving,” said Chalifoux. “So we went into his yard, ripped the garbage bag off and here’s a cat in a cage; that’s the cat in the video.”
He said he pulled the trapped cat out of the water-filled bucket and left the yard when a man approached and shouted at him to give the cage back.
“That’s when the video started,” he said.
The cat from the video is doing well and recovering in Chalifoux’s care.
“She’s our shop cat now,” he said. “She’s doing good.”
Chalifoux said he had two cats die last year — finding them shot dead — and other village residents have made similar reports of suspiciously missing and killed cats for several years.
“I’m in this for the long haul. I need something to happen because I can’t have this guy doing this to people’s animals,” he said.
RCMP say officers from the nearby Stettler detachment are aware of the video and looking into the matter.
“Stettler RCMP have received multiple reports about the TikTok video with reference to a cat and some allegations being made,” said Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.
“There is an investigation underway by Stettler RCMP into the allegations to see if they’re founded. If they are, appropriate charges could be laid.”
Several social media users claim to have identified the man, but as no charges have been laid, police can’t share the suspect’s name.
Savinkoff noted that most reports have referenced the TikTok video, with at least one coming from a person outside of Canada.
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