Burnt kittens found at dump

Press, 5 December 1989, Page 2

Burnt kittens found at dump

A receptionist at the S.P.C.A. animal shelter in Sockburn, Miss Julie Hack (left), holds two kittens which were burned at a dump in Lyttelton.

The kittens were found at the week-end.

An S.P.C.A. staff member discovered the four-week-old animals after they had been caught in a fire at the dump. They suffered singed fur and burned whiskers and are now being treated at the association’s Sockburn animal shelter.

Miss Hack said the pair were friendly and it was thought they were probably domestic animals which had been dumped. It is doubtful that they will survive. Although they were not badly burned and are eating, the kittens have watery eyes and may have picked up infections at the dump.

Miss Hack said that two other kittens died in a fire at the dump last week. Another pair was found abandoned in a rubbish bin at Barrington. “It is just criminal to leave them like that,” Miss Hack said.

At this time of year the S.P.C.A. picks up about 400 abandoned cats and kittens each month. Usually it can find homes for only one third of these.

While cats at the animal shelter might have difficulty finding homes, it seems that their more valuable cousins are popular.

People are stealing pedigree cats, especially Burmese and colourpoint Persians. The S.P.CA. believes they are probably being taken for Christmas presents.