18 kittens left outside the shelter

[Catherine]

On Monday morning a Wisconsin animal shelter found a plastic bin with 18 kittens in it. They appear to be from 3 different litters. It is unknown how long they were out side the building. It is not clear if the 18 were all the kittens that were left. Other than that the shelter knows nothing about the kittens.

This particular shelter has it set up so that animals don't  have to be left unattended like that.  There are drop off set ups so animals can be left safely.

http://www.fdlreporter.com/story/news/20...747427001/

They are making the appeal to people to surrender pets safely. Don't just abandon them. 

Not all shelters have places where pets can be dropped off like that, but the shelters are there to help and will take in pets no matter why they are being surrendered. Bringing the pet or pets in for surrender means the pet has a history. It can keep its own name. In the case of the kittens the shelter could know the age of the kittens. All these things help make it less traumatic for the animal being surrendered and they make it easier for the animal to be adopted.

So anyone out there who needs to give up a pet, please surrender it to a shelter and spare it the trauma of abandonment.

[Tobi]

Poor little things. No doubt they were too young to have been taken from their mothers too. My guess is they were there from about 11pm or midnight. That would be eight or nine hours. I wish them well.

I have heard umpteen cases of dogs being tied to the gates of rescues and shelters, and left there. Of course when the shelter people see them, they are taken in.  I think the people who do that don't want to be seen, or talk to anyone. At least they haven't just tipped them out of cars I guess.

It's important before surrendering an animal who cannot be cared for, to check first if the "Shelter" is a high-kill, or no-kill. Or whether animals who find it difficult to be re-homed, are euthanised or not. Most times, leaving any animal at a "Shelter" will mean it probably has about a week to live even if it is a lovely animal. Simply because that's how most Shelters operate, but of course, there are exceptions. To be kind to the animal, it's best to find out first which ones ARE the exceptions.

[Catherine]

I think increasingly shelters are becoming no kill. Shelters with high intake make arrangements to send animals to other shelters that have room. The system isn't perfect yet, but there have been changes. 

Actually surrendering an animal makes it easier for a shelter to find someone to adopt the animal. They know it is available for adoption. They know the age and health of the animal. They know why the animal was given up.

It is a cowardly thing to do, to just dump animals in a box even if it is outside a shelter. A lot of shelters have their night staff or security guards check outside the building regularly. They know they will often find boxes of kittens or even rabbits.

I just hope the 18 kittens were all the ones that were left. I would hate to think that some have run away and are lost on the streets.