Saskatoon SPCA searches for gamer accused of animal abuse

Last Friday, the Saskatoon SPCA started looking into animal cruelty accusations against an online gamer.

Natalia Mogollon, who goes by the online handle of Alinity, streams video games to a fanbase of nearly 900,000 followers on a platform called Twitch.

Her Twitter profile says she is from Saskatchewan, but doesn’t specify a city.

Two separate videos surfaced of her throwing a cat over her head and giving it vodka.

Jasmine Hanson, the communications co-ordinator for the local SPCA, said it’s difficult to investigate the case with so little information.

“Right now, we’re just trying to identify the individual and locate her address,” she told 650 CKOM.

“The reason this is so important is because if we want to investigate the situation, we obviously have to identify the person, and usually a social media profile isn’t enough to go on.”

She said if Mogollon isn’t from Saskatoon, the cruelty complaints will have to be researched by a different animal protection agency.

That’s not the only way that this is a unique situation.

“Quite often it’s very difficult for us to prove cases of neglect or cruelty because we don’t have something such as video evidence, so this case is quite unique in that way,” Hanson said.

Mogollon responded to critics on Twitter.

“Hey everyone, I understand the concern and I am sorry for my lapses in judgement,” she said on Twitter. “I shouldn’t have gotten frustrated with Milo, but I dropped him on the floor behind my chair. I’m not that strong :P. The Vodka thing was well over a year ago but it was also a stupid thing to do.”

“I also understand the desire to report me to pet authorities and encourage anyone to do so if they feel pets are being mistreated, by anyone, anywhere. My animals are well loved, and live in a warm and caring home, and I will comply with any authority that seeks to validate this.

I also understand the desire to report me to pet authorities and encourage anyone to do so if they feel pets are being mistreated, by anyone, anywhere. My animals are well loved, and live in a warm and caring home, and I will comply with any authority that seeks to validate this.

— Alinity (@AlinityTwitch) July 19, 2019

CKOM/CJME has reached out to the streamer for comment, but has not yet received a response.