Curtis Ring pleaded guilty on August 16, 2022 for allowing an animal to be in distress under the Animal Protection Act (APA) 2(1). In January 2022, the Alberta SPCA received a public complaint about a steer that appeared lame in the County of Foothills. An Alberta SPCA Peace Officer attended the property and found the animal with what appeared to be a broken leg. When the owner refused to humanely euthanize the steer, it was seized by the Peace Officer who authorized a veterinarian to euthanize the animal.

Mr. Ring was subsequently charged with allowing an animal to be in distress, APA 2(1) and for failing to provide care to an animal that is sick or wounded, APA 2.1(b), and he pleaded guilty in Turner Valley Provincial Court the single count of allowing an animal to be in distress. Mr. Ring was fined $1,500. As part of the sentence, the judge granted Alberta SPCA Peace Officers the right to inspect all out-buildings on Mr. Ring’s property every three months, for a period of one year, to ensure the well-being of animals on the property.