Two garbage bags of kittens tossed into Newcastle SPCA’s yard

Four kittens were placed in a refuse bag, before being tossed over the Newcastle SPCA’s permitter fence on Friday, 10 February 2023, the same weekend the torrential rains resulted in flash floods in Newcastle.

Newcastle SPCA’s Heather Gero explained that at around lunchtime on the day in question, the kennel hand had gone on lunch.

“When he got back at 12.30pm, he saw a refuse bag and noticed it moving. He opened it and saw four little kittens,” said Heather.

The kittens were quickly brought in. However, all four had to be euthanised due to being in a deplorable state from the inclement weather and having sniffles.

While it is unclear who dumped the kittens at the Newcastle SPCA, an understandably irate Gero said this behaviour was utterly unacceptable and warned if anyone was caught dumping kittens, they could face legal repercussions.

“Not only are they breaking the Animals’ Protection Act, but they are also breaking the Municipal By-Laws, which states that stray or unwanted animals must be taken to the SPCA or the pound,” explained Gero.

This meant that either the SPCA or Newcastle Municipality could open a case against the perpetrators.

When reflecting on the atrocious way the kittens were dumped, Gero said a few days after the kittens toss into the yard, SPCA staff were cleaning the gardens and found another packet of dead kittens that were dumped at the SPCA during the course of the night.

Gero stressed, “There is no necessity to dump an animal at the SPCA or tie it to a tree if you don’t want them. We do not shame people when they surrender animals to us. We just want to ensure the animals are safe and do not suffer. Their safety is our priority.”

With this in mind, people are encouraged not to dump their animals but rather to hand their unwanted animals to the SPCA in a compassionate way.

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