This story is horrifying yet the outcome was amazing. Their story needs to be told! This is from the Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary and Rescue here in central Iowa.
Someone put 4 healthy, 3 week old kittens in an empty Meow Mix bag and threw them onto a Madison County road to be crushed by oncoming traffic. But for the nurturing instinct of a family dog, the horrific plan almost succeeded!
As a woman came home from work and pulled into her driveway, she noticed that her dog wasn’t acting normally, but was visibly upset and focused on what appeared to be a tattered bag of trash lying in the yard. No real surprise to her since the dog brings home "treasures" to her on a regular basis, welcome or not. But on this day, the dog’s refusal to move and an unfamiliar sound coming from what now could be identified as a discarded cat food bag triggered her to check out Reagan’s new "treasured" item. She soon discovered that the sound was the faint cries of a kitten. Without hesitation she reached down to look inside the bag, but was totally unprepared for what she was about to see.
The bag the kittens were placed in and tossed into the road!
Two tiny kittens, screaming and covered in the blood and gore of their crushed and maimed siblings, were thrashing about trying to get free from the viscera and out of the bag. Kelly quickly swooped up the two survivors and took them directly into her home to do what she could to provide some kind of care. As she bathed them, fed them and snuggled with them offering them comfort and reassurance that they were now safe, her empathy quickly turned to anger. Through her tears of rage, she struggled to find sense out of it all.
What was painfully obvious to her was that these kittens were intentionally put in a bag and dumped on the road. It was also apparent that the bag had been run over and that at least two kittens, maybe more, had been crushed; and that her dog had retrieved the bag from the road and brought it up to the house for Kelly to find. How two survived was the real mystery, but solving it was secondary to her natural nurturing instinct to feed, care for and love these two tiny remarkable survivors.
Over the next 12 hours, she maintained a constant vigil that included hourly examinations looking for any signs of internal injuries or complications and bottle feedings every 3-4 hours. Little did she know that while she was encouraged over the kittens’ progress, just how frustrated and disappointed she would become over what was about to occur.
Day Two...What kind of person...?
After an unsettled night with frequent feedings and worry, she faced the new day with little sleep and a yearning to understand how anyone could possibly do this to such innocent lives that were so precious and fragile. She also realized that her daily job was going to prevent her from feeding and caring for these babies on a frequent basis and so, she immediately began contacting shelters and rescues for assistance.
Would you believe that that woman’s pleas for help were unanswered or ignored by no less than five local animal rescue organizations? About to lose faith in humanity and wondering if, after all the trauma these surviving kittens had endured was it even possible to find the help they needed to live a full life, She come across one organization that actually listened to her story and offered to help.
Why Rescuing an Animal is More Than just taking them … somewhere else.
At Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary and Rescue, (RVAS), her call for help was one of 18 we had already received that day. Obviously, her needs were immediate and lives were at stake. We know that the first 10-12 weeks of a kitten’s life is extremely precarious and their fragile life systems can go from apparently healthy and eating well to sudden death within a very short period of time. Anyone experienced in kitten care knows how heartbreaking it is to lose one of these precious lives...and many rescuers refuse to take on these cases because they can't deal with the heartbreak of losing a life.
However, we didn’t take the time to debate the issue. Moving into emergency mode, our director made a few phone calls that quickly produced a foster and back up experienced in neo-natal and infant kitten care. Unfortunately, many people, including those who think of themselves as rescuers would have the story end with the kittens just being transferred to a foster home and eventually, hopefully, adopted. We have a different outlook on animal rescue, and as they say on TV…’but wait, there’s more’…we believe there is more to rescue than moving animals from one place to another.
We asked her if she would help us help her and the kittens by taking them to our Veterinary Health providers for their assessment and any treatment they may deem necessary. She readily agreed and told us how University West Pet Hospital's staff greeted her and assessed the kittens’ condition immediately. She complimented both the staff and Dr. Martz, DVM for the gentle and kind care to such precious cargo. She felt secure leaving them in their hands, and knew that RVAS personnel would be picking them up, and that these little guys (we believe) will start a new life!
That is just the beginning of their story. Follow their progress here.
Look at them now!
All pictures are ©Racoon Valley Animal Shelter & Rescue
Aren’t they cute? Mom wants to adopt both of them but she has some serious talking into to do with dad first.
Their siblings weren’t saved, but they were. Through the cruelness of one human being, the word is getting out about these 2.
Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary and Rescue is a no kill shelter – our favorite kind! Please think about donating to them to help out with the costs of these 2 beautiful kittens and to allow them to save other animals who need them.
You can also follow them on Facebook to keep up to date on these 2 little guys’ story.
See a list of all of their adoptable pets here.
Thank you Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary and Rescue for all you do for those animals that need saved!
(only because mom wants it herself.)
