Six-week-old kittens found in box on top of bin

Three kittens have been found in a cardboard box, which was left on top of a wheelie bin in Nottinghamshire.

The RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre said the six-week-old felines were found in a tightly taped-up box in the Wollaton area on 21 July.

The "scared" trio were lucky to have been found before they overheated and suffocated or got mistaken for rubbish, it said.

The charity said they would now be cared for and given time to settle before being rehomed.

Animal centre manager Ella Carpenter said although the kittens were underweight they were in "reasonable condition".

However, they were "clearly very hot and in some distress from their ordeal".

"Not being able to view their surroundings or have any choice or control over what was happening to them would have been very frightening indeed for such young and vulnerable animals."

Ms Carpenter said the trio had been weaned too early and would have benefited from remaining with their mother.

"It is incredibly sad that a minority of people still think this is an acceptable way to treat animals that are no longer wanted or cannot be cared for," she said.

She added that the RSPCA has neutering schemes available to prevent unwanted kittens, and urged owners to "never abandon animals" but to ask for help.

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