Two cases of cruel kitten dumping in Letterkenny and Killybegs

Two reports of kittens being deliberately dumped in Killybegs and Letterkenny were received by the volunteers at Animals In Need (AIN),

The first litter of small kittens was found abandoned by a river in Killybegs. Luckily the four kittens were caught and brought to AIN’s cattery over the weekend. The kittens are not feral and are used to be handled.

Eyewitnesses also spotted three larger kittens being dumped from a car on a back road on the outskirts of Letterkenny.

Despite attempts to catch them by two kind ladies, the kittens were too traumatised, and they ran away.

AIN hopes to catch the kittens shortly as they have little chance of survival on their own.

ABOVE: Phoebe and her kittens are still weak

The AIN cat rescuers have had an exceptionally busy week, including embarking on a Trap/Neuter/Return programme at a cat colony where a number of the cats are in bad condition.

So far, twelve and cats and kittens have been caught at the colony and taken for treatment.

AIN has several pregnant cats in their care at the moment, one of the cats giving birth to four kittens during the week.

Five orphaned kittens also arrived at the cattery.

There are a number of very young kittens being fostered at the moment. These kittens need additional care as they need to be hand-reared and fed special kitten formula milk with a bottle, every few hours around the clock.

A newborn kitten that was found and handed into Seaview Vets has joined the ‘bottle babies’.

A 10-day-old kitten was found alone in a skip in Letterkenny. He was most likely born there but there was no sign of his mother and so he too is receiving around the clock care at AIN.

Adult cats have also needed help, amongst them an injured cat found in Dungloe.

Despite four adult cats and five kittens being rehomed during the week, AIN’s foster homes are at full capacity.

Black cat Phoebe is still unwell, which has had a knock-on effect on her five kittens, who are all very small and weak.

Phoebe is not producing a sufficient amount milk to feed them all and therefore her fosterer is helping by providing supplementary feeding for the kittens with kitten milk formula.

The smallest kitten, tiny tabby Noah, is struggling. He is only half the weight he should be, but AIN are doing all that they can to save him.

As well as being ‘Kitten Season’ it is also baby wild animal season and AIN has helped with several wildlife emergencies this week.

These have involved a young crow, a duckling and an injured Wood Pigeon.

AIN is always looking for more fosterers for cats and dogs.

All of their dog rescue spaces are filled at the moment, meaning they cannot take in anymore dogs until the current fostered dogs are rehomed.

The more fosterers they have, the more animals they can help. All vet bills, food, bedding and expenses for the fostered animals are covered by AIN.

If you are interested and would like information on how to become a dog or cat fosterer, please contact the charity.

AIN would like to say a huge thank you to Ann Kennedy and her friend, who collected and then cashed in Re-Turn bottles and cans and donated the €50 raised to AIN’s animals. Your support is appreciated.

AIN also have drop off points for Re-Turn cans and bottles at AIN’s Charity Store in Donegal Town and Brú Lab in Letterkenny.

Every three cans or bottles will pay for a meal for a fostered animal. Finally, AIN is seeking volunteers to help with the charity’s annual bucket collection in Donegal Town on June 1.

ABOVE: Rescued Duckling

If you are available for a two-hour shift on the day, please contact AIN via the helplines or through their social media pages.

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 cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment, and vaccinations.

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.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188.