Case studies

To prevent unwanted pets we encourage pet owners to act responsibly and have their pets neutered. Unfortunately we still receive calls about abandoned, unwanted young animals.  Here are just some of them.

Kitten found shivering in a rubbish bag

This tiny black tom cat was found sitting in a puddle of rainwater inside a plastic cat carrier box, which was wrapped in a bin bag and left next to a communal bin.

The three-month-old was shivering and wet and is thought to have been sat there for most of the night.


Animal Welfare Officer Jill Sanders, who found him, said:

All I could see when I opened the bag were these two little eyes peering out at me.

Just to leave the kitten like that is so sad. There is no way of telling why this little one was abandoned, but there is a real crisis at the moment.

Because people don’t have their cats neutered there are so many unwanted cats and kittens, and our animal centres are full to the brim.

Two unwanted puppies tragically drowned

A dog walker made an awful discovery whilst using a riverside footpath two puppies, believed to be Labradors, floating in the water.

We believe these puppies, which were only a few days old, were drowned because they were unwanted. Inspector John Jenkins said:

It is just heartbreaking to think that these puppies have died a horrendous death by drowning.

There were no other injuries found on their bodies, so we can only conclude that someone drove them out to the remote location to drown them.

What upsets me the most is that their deaths were completely unnecessary. If their owner was struggling and unable to cope there are lots of charities who would have been willing to offer them some help.

Dumped kittens so young their eyes were still closed

A cat and her four kittens were found abandoned in a hessian sack in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The bag was dumped in a lay-by next to a bin.

The mother cat, described as a young adult tabby, was in good body condition despite the ordeal she had been through. She wasn’t microchipped but it looked as if she had been wearing a collar prior to being abandoned. 

Inspector Rachel Oprysk said:

What happened beggar’s belief. This cat and her kittens were literally put out like rubbish. The kittens were so tiny that their eyes weren’t even open.

It seems obvious that she was an owned cat with an unwanted litter.

It was lucky they were spotted when they were otherwise who knows what might have happened to them.

Mum and her kittens were taken to our Halifax, Huddersfield and District Branch Animal Centre. The kittens, named MacBeth, McIntosh, Maisie and Missy, were fostered by a member of staff until they were old enough to be rehomed.

Neutering your pet

Find out more about neutering your pet and help us prevent more animals finding themselves without homes to call their own.

If you would like to offer one of the many animals who have come into our care a new home, visit our rehoming pages.