Shock as kittens thrown from a car in Milford

Donegal Animals In Need (AIN) volunteers rescued two small kittens who were cruelly thrown from a car in Milford at the weekend.

The two brothers, Tom and Jerry, were brought to the cattery after a kind family found them and looked after them overnight and thankfully Tom was miraculously uninjured.

However, Jerry was not so lucky and had sustained a broken pelvis and nerve damage.

Jerry seemed to be doing well on pain medication and had a good appetite but tragically he passed away the following morning.

The only positive note to this story was that Jerry was comfortable and pain-free, lying on a heat pad with a full stomach and he knew kindness and had plenty of cuddles in his final days.

The AIN volunteers have been called out to a series of emergencies in recent days, including the rescue of a cat who got her head stuck in a pipe.

To complicate matters, the cat had five young kittens of around 12 days old, one of which had a serious eye infection.

Being a feral cat, the mother cat did not understand that people were trying to help her and so she had to be humanely trapped and brought to a vet where she was sedated so that they could cut the pipe and remove it from around her neck.

Her kittens were also rescued and the whole family is now safe and warm at AIN’s cattery and the sick kitten is receiving treatment for her eye infection.

(Above: Dolly and her three kittens were at risk of poisoning)

In yet another emergency case, mum cat Dolly and her three kittens were rescued by a kind local lady who spent many hours trying to catch them and get them to safety.

This cat family was in immediate danger of being poisoned with rat poison by a neighbour.

Poisoning cats is illegal, in fact under Irish Law, any act, or failure to act, that causes unnecessary suffering or endangers the health and welfare of any animal is an offence.

Feral and community cats play an important role in controlling rat and mice populations, especially in locations where there may be waste food or animal feed.

For this reason, feral cat colonies should be an asset to human society, provided there is a stable number of healthy, neutered cats.

AIN is actively involved in TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) of feral cat colonies around the county and have humane cat traps that can be borrowed if you have a growing colony in your area.

Meanwhile, AIN’s dog rescuers have had another busy week; caring for foster dogs and pups, reuniting lost and found dogs, vet trips, paperwork and organising Pet Passports so that several of the foster dogs can go to their new homes in the UK.

The number of calls from people wishing to surrender their pet dog to the charity continues to rise and the situation is out of control at this point as there are a limited number of foster places and the demand for dogs is at an all time low.

Finally, AIN has launched its annual Santa Paws Pet Toy Appeal.

(Above: Mother cat found with a pipe stuck around her neck)

Each year, AIN run an appeal to collect toys for all the fostered animals with the aim that every dog, cat, pup and kitten will have a present on Christmas day and spare toys throughout the year.

Donations can include pet toys, blankets and cat/dog wet food and they can be dropped off at collections points located in Pets’R’Us, SoLo and AIN’s Charity Shop in Donegal Town.

Online donations can be made via AIN’s Amazon Wishlist which is packed with present ideas in all price ranges. The link is here..

All donations, however big or small, are gratefully received by the animals while they wait for their forever homes.

To help AIN’s animals, please donate €2 to AIN’s ‘Help Us To\ Help Them’ fundraising appeal via your phone by texting the word ‘KITTEN’ to 50300. Every last cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment and vaccinations.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries please call 087 7644420. Animals In Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website at http://www.animalsinneeddonegal.com.