WINNIPEG -- The sister of an accused kitten killer has surrendered to police for her alleged role in the attack.

Delia Ashley Clarke, 22, turned herself in Thursday at the north Winnipeg police station.
She is charged with mischief under $5,000 and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in the July 17 incident in which a three-month-old kitten was brutally beaten with a baseball bat on Pritchard Avenue.

Police allege Clarke smashed the window of a home in the 500-block. Her 23-year-old sister is accused of using a bat on the feline.

Boots, a black kitten with white paws aptly named by a four-year-old girl, had to be put down because its injuries were so severe.

At the time, the owner of the cat said she believed the two suspects were targeting her due to an earlier fight involving a guy.

Generally, police don't handle many animal cruelty cases, but won't hesitate to get involved when a situation stems from another investigation, a Winnipeg police spokesman said.
"The fact that it was a kitten, it tugs at the heartstrings of the public," Patrol-Sgt. Wally Antoniuk said Friday.

Coincidentally, the same week the kitten was brutally beaten, city police through Winnipeg CrimeStoppers announced a partnership with PAW Tipsters, a not-for-profit charity aimed at raising funds to help fight animal cruelty.

Yvonne Russell was inspired to start PAW Tipsters after her boyfriend rescued "Gary," a starving, mistreated, stray black Labrador, in April 2011.

PAW Tipsters will raise the cash, but tips will be handled by CrimeStoppers, a line established in 1984 that lets people call in anonymous information.

"There is a ton of animal abuse that goes on out there, some people, it's worth it if there's money, unfortunately," Russell said.