Staff at the Dartmouth SPCA are frustrated after learning someone abandoned 10 kittens and three adult cats -- beside a dumpster, just three kilometres away for their shelter.
The cats were found just two days ago, and they were covered in fleas and suffering from heat exhaustion. After just two days at the shelter, their condition has improved immensely with lots of TLC.
“All the moms are nursing and they seem to be, all three of them, seem to be looking after the kittens together,” said Const. Jo-Anne Landsburg of the SPCA.
SPCA staff say the person who dropped off the kittens and cats say they found them in boxes beside a dumpster in Highfield Park.
Landsburg, who is the chief provincial inspector for the SPCA says there is “absolutely no excuse” for this.”
And yet, she says, abandoning animals is still quite common.
“It's very frustrating for us because these kittens are helpless,” Landsburg said. “They were locked in a box, they were suffering from heat exhaustion, and they could have died easily, so it's very frustrating for us.”
Staff at the SPCA say the kittens’ health has improved because the three adult females are all nursing.
They can't tell who belongs to who, so they're allowing them all to be together, creating a makeshift nursery.
“It's a bit unorthodox for us,” says Sandra Flemming, the provincial animal care director for the Nova Scotia SPCA.“But they're all nice and tucked in, and they've bounced back really fast and they're doing awesome this way, so we're going to leave them this way until we get them into foster homes.”
The SPCA says they never judge and don't need an explanation if you can no longer look after a pet.
Drop them off to an SPCA, no questions asked.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
