What does it take for a human being to drop a few newborn kittens in a plastic bag and throw it away in a garbage can, like a bag of used litter? Is this an act of desperation? Of sacrifice? Of stupidity? Of ignorance? All of the above? Did their mother belong to someone who did not have the savoir-faire to have her spayed, allowed her out, to discover one day that she had surprisingly given birth to a few kittens?
Or was this all a money issue? Could the person who found the kittens simply not afford to care for them?
Was the culprit simply devoid of neurons?
While it is true that there are millions of unwanted cats in the US, that they are considered vermin, like rats, in some parts of the world, they are indeed still living, breathing, animals. Surely a cat owner can tell you just how loving, caring, and affectionate they are... My cats are certainly not rats (and I don't mean to be speciest: I know that there are many who love rats like I love cats, and don't remind me how intelligent rats are...).
The good news is that our hospital will care for these newborns until they can be adopted out when they are older (their eyes have not yet opened!). For all the kitties found in baggies, can you imagine how few are saved? It would be far more responsible, and ethical, to have such kittens euthanized instead of their suffering a slow death from starvation or suffocation. I can't even imagine how horrible that would be.
Now let's be realistic: not all can be saved. Let's put our energy, financial and otherwise, into those that can be saved and most importantly, those we can place in a loving, caring, long-term home.
A little older than newborn, but I couldn't resist.
