CCTV footage being examined to try and trace man who dumped 17 kittens

Gardaí are studying CCTV footage in a bid to identify a man who dumped a box containing 17 kittens outside a Co Donegal butcher shop in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The cardboard box containing the tiny kittens was left outside the butcher shop in Killybegs at 5am.

A local postwoman came upon the box during her morning delivery rounds and was left astonished by her find.

The postwoman found the box filled with kittens of only two to four weeks old, 10 of whom are sick with serious eye infections.

A Garda investigation has revealed that a man was captured on the butcher shop’s CCTV as he arrived on foot and dumped the box outside the shop at 5am.

The kittens had been left in the rain and the cold for a number of hours.

The kittens are now all in the care of Animals In Need where they will receive treatment for their eye infections and any other ailments they may have.

The youngest kittens will also need to be bottle-fed special kitten milk formula as they should still be with their mothers.

A shocked Animals In Need spokesperson said ‘This is a heartless thing to do.

“All these kittens should still be being nursed by their mothers and to take them away and leave them out all night in the cold was very dangerous for the kittens, they are lucky to be alive.”

She continued: “These kittens must have come from four or five mothers so our concern now is where are the mothers and are they going to be having more babies in a month that will end up the same way?”

Animals In Need appealed to the man who left the box of kittens to get in touch with them on the helpline on 087 7644420 or at least to have the mother cats neutered, stating that there is financial help available if the cats are stray or feral.

Animals In Need have humane traps to catch the cats for neutering if needed and volunteers are always available to give advice and to offer help so that this type of dumping does not happen.