Stray cheetah incident prompts charges a year later

Two people are facing charges just over a year after a cheetah was spotted wandering on the side of a highway in B.C.'s Interior.

The cheetah was seen walking along Highway 3A, between Kootenay Bay and Crawford Bay, in mid-December 2015. A witness took photos of the big cat, which was wearing an orange cloth collar, then called the RCMP.

Authorities searched for the cat but there were no further sightings reported.

Following an investigation into the bizarre incident, the province's Conservation Officer Service has charged two people under the Controlled Alien Species Regulation.

Earl Pfeifer and Carol Plato have been charged with possessing an alien species without permit, and will appear in Creston Provincial Court on Feb. 17.

Several local media reports from 2013 and 2014 suggested that the pair owned two cheetahs, named Robin and Annie Rose.

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  The cheetah was seen at the side of the road near Kootenay Bay by a motorist who took some pictures of the cat wearing an orange cloth collar and called the RCMP.