Pet and Wildlife Rescue (PAWR) is urging residents to contact the organization for assistance rather than abandoning animals after staff discovered a group of two-week-old kittens left outside its facility in a grocery bag.
In a statement shared Tuesday, the rescue said the kittens were tied inside the bag and left at the front door during business hours. Staff said the animals were panting, overheated and stressed when they were found, but survived the incident.
“Leaving animals tied in a bag at our door is not rescue. It is abandonment, and it is dangerous,” the organization said.
PAWR said the situation comes during one of its busiest periods of the year, with the shelter already facing a shortage of foster homes for young kittens requiring bottle feeding.
The organization said staff members are currently taking multiple kittens home each night while continuing to care for hundreds of animals during the day.
“We can only do so much,” the statement said. “Adding more without warning puts real strain on the system, and ultimately, on the animals already in our care.”
PAWR said there are safer alternatives for people struggling to care for animals, including contacting the rescue for guidance, food support or temporary arrangements until space becomes available.
“We are here to help, and we will work with you whenever we can,” the organization said. “We cannot help if we are not even given the chance.”
The rescue also pushed back against suggestions that abandoning animals at a shelter is acceptable if the alternative could be worse.
“That’s not the standard,” PAWR said. “Animals should not be abandoned anywhere, under any circumstances, like they are disposable.”
PAWR can be reached at (226) 996-9969 or pawrrescue@gmail.com.
More details are available at pawr.org.
