How could someone abandon them? Adorable kittens found dumped in a suitcase
A SUITCASE full of 15 adorable kittens were found dumped on the streets by a horrified veterinary nurse.
15 ADORABLE kittens found inside a dumped suitcase
The sharp-eyed nurse came to the kittens’ rescue after she discovered the case on her way to work.
Amazingly, all 15 kittens – a mixture of tabbies, greys and black and whites aged between three and five weeks – all survived the harrowing ordeal of being squeezed into the case with only a few air holes to breathe.
Animal welfare campaigners suspect the culprit who callously condemned the kittens may have been a greedy cat breeder who could not find them homes.
This challenge has now fallen on leading charity Cats Protection. Volunteers at its Hornchurch and District Branch are caring for the youngsters as they try to find them all new families.
A veterinary nurse discovered the black case dumped on a street in Dagenham, Essex, at the weekend. The kittens are believed to have come from as many as four different litters.
Alison Gambles, welfare and homing officer for the Cats Protection district branch, said: “The 15 kittens were all found crammed inside the suitcase, in which someone had made some small air holes.
“Although they were all alive and in fairly good condition, they were clearly far too young to be away from their mothers. Six of them had obvious cases of eye infection and although the others seem okay for now, we will need to closely monitor them.
They were clearly far too young to be away from their mothers.
“Someone must have felt in a very desperate situation to do this.
"They seem to have intended the kittens to be found as the suitcase had been left near the home of the veterinary nurse, who is well known locally.
"But with kittens this young and vulnerable, the outcome could have been awful.”
Cats Protection say the kittens are not fully weaned and require hand-rearing to give them the vital nutrients they would have received from their mothers.
Why they were dumped remains a mystery but could have been the actions of an unscrupulous kitten breeder.
Ms Gambles said: “Either someone’s own cats had been breeding out of control, or someone had been trying to breed kittens for profit – we’ll never know the full story here.
“Sadly, it is often the case that people find they have more kittens than they can cope with because they haven’t had their cats neutered.
“We’d really like to appeal to whoever left these kittens to get in touch and so we can discuss ways to stop this happening again. There really is no need for things to spiral out of control like this."
The kittens have put a huge drain on the Hornchurch Cats Protection branch's resources as it cares for them while trying to find them new homes.
It also pushes other cats that need rehoming at the branch to the back of the queue as kittens are always the most in demand.
The kittens were taken to Vets4Pets in Dagenham before being handed to Cats Protection.
Vets4Pets head vet Debra Teo added: “Happily, none of the kittens are seriously ill and they are now safe and being well cared for.
"However, every single kitten would have benefited from a few more weeks of care, attention and nutrition provided by its own mother.
"Our concerns now are about these mother cats who are most likely pregnant again by now. We are pleading with all cat owners to have both male and female cats and kittens neutered.
"The current situation could so easily have been averted and also could have easily ended up being a tragedy."
Cats Protection’s Hornchurch & District Branch is part of a UK network of over 250 volunteer-run branches and 32 centres which help around 200,000 cats a year.
To find out more about neutering or the work of Cats Protection, please visit www.cats.org.uk