When a Good Samaritan noticed a fabric playpen, dirty and disheveled, abandoned on the side of the road, they viewed it as a sad sight — then they realized something was moving inside it.
Three tiny kittens were cuddled together in a pile inside the playpen, waiting for someone to notice them. The Good Samaritan immediately scooped the kittens up, took them home and contacted the RSPCA for help.
“They were covered in their own urine and faeces and must’ve been very scared and confused,” Emmeline Myall, an animal rescue officer with the RSPCA, told The Dodo. “Thankfully, they were found when they were, and I took them to the RSPCA Halifax Branch for lots of care and attention.”
Between May and September is when the RSPCA sees the biggest influx of kittens arriving at their shelters, so unfortunately, situations like these are not unexpected. Still, they were shocked by the condition of the poor kittens and immediately set to work cleaning them up and getting them comfortable.
“Kitten season is typically the time of year when most kittens are born and, as a charity, we see an influx of cats coming into our care as a result,” Alice Potter, cat welfare expert at the RSPC, told The Dodo. “With the cost of living crisis putting an extra strain on people’s finances, we’re concerned that we may see more cats than ever in need of help at a time when our centres are already full-to-bursting.”
The kittens are currently around 9 weeks old and have been named Rigatoni, Penne and Macaroni. Rigatoni, the only boy, loves to pounce on his sisters and is always on the move, looking for adventure. Macaroni is the smallest of the three, but she’s arguably the bravest one and is always racing to be the first one to go anywhere. Penne loves to wrestle with them both, enjoying her time at the shelter with her brother and sister.
All three kittens are doing great and now are up for adoption through the RSPCA. They’re incredibly lucky they were spotted that day, huddled up in the dirty playpen, and will hopefully soon be living the good life in their forever homes.
“We have issued an urgent plea to the public to help us tackle the cat overpopulation crisis by ensuring they’re neutering their cats, by helping local stray cats, fostering or volunteering for a rescue, and if they are looking to bring a cat into their homes to make sure they adopt don’t shop,” Potter said.
