Shock discovery - cat left in box in closed off charity shop donation unit

The team at Animals in Need charity shop in Donegal Town made a shocked discovery while investigating why their donation unit had been broken open.

It emerged that rather than someone try to break in, the damage had been caused by a cat managing to break out after being left in a box in the unit. 

The charity is offering the person the opportunity to come forward anonymously with information about the cat, but warns that if this does not happen, CCTV footage will be passed on to gardaí. 

A spokesperson took to social media on Monday morning to outline what had happened, saying: "To our surprise, our donation unit had been broken open early this morning.

"Our security cameras showed the culprit being a desperate cat who had burst OUT of the unit.

"Can the person who left a cat inside a box in the closed-off donation drop-off unit, please contact us-no judgement- but we need to know the details on this cat.Is it healthy or in need of vet care? Was there more than one cat? Two were seen on the cctv.

"If the person doesn't get in contact today - anonymously- we will pass the full cctv over to the gardai for animal abandonment."

Followers of Animals in Need Facebook page have expressed various levels of frustration and anger at the incident.

One person said: "At least it wasn't dumped in a river like some pathetic people do."

Another did not hold back in damning the culprit, saying: "Hope whoever did this rots in hell."

Animals in Need can be contacted via the helpline number 087 7644420 or by email at animals.inneed@yahoo.ie