The RSPCA is appealing for information after a young kitten was stashed inside a JD Sports bag offered to a member of the public in the street to buy, and then thrown into a bush in Manchester.
A member of the public who called the RSPCA explained that they had been approached by a man in the street with a JD Sports bag with a kitten stashed inside. The man asked if he ‘wanted a kitten’ and the member of the public declined. However, the witness then saw the man empty the bag and throw the kitten into some bushes before abandoning the eight-week-old moggy.
This comes as the RSPCA launches its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign as the charity sees a peak in calls during the summer months. Every month it cruelty line receives around 90,000 reports of deliberate animal cruelty.
But in the summer calls rise to 134,000 a month – three every minute and reports of cruelty soar to 7,600 each month – a heart breaking 245 every day.
RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Jess Pierce rescued the cat and took him to be checked over by a vet.
She said: “This poor kitten was callously abandoned and thrown into some bushes in Manchester. The witness said they were first approached by the man who offered him the kitten inside a plastic sports bag and when he said ‘no’, he then proceeded to dump the kitten in some bushes.
“The poor guy had a really bad flea infestation and was in a poorly way, very sadly suffering from feline parvovirus. He was put in foster care and the fosterer, and the vets tried everything they could to save him but sadly his health deteriorated so the vets decided the kindest thing to do was to put the kitten to sleep to end his suffering.
“We all wanted a happy ending for this poor little mite and it’s devastating that didn’t happen. We are now keen to find the person who abandoned him.”
The kitten was abandoned on Thursday 4 August in Church Lane, Manchester at around 12:30pm. If anyone has any information about this, please contact the RSPCA’s inspectorate appeal line on 0300 123 8018.
Jess added: “We know that people’s circumstances can change which may mean they can no longer care for their pets, especially at the moment due to the cost of living crisis, but there is never an excuse to abandon an animal like this.
“This is just one example of cruelty the RSPCA deals with every day. Summer is out busiest time of year, which is why we have launched out Cancel Out Cruelty campaign to keep rescuers like me out on the frontline saving animals and raising awareness about how to stop cruelty for good.”
