Pemiscot Co. Animal Welfare Society seeks info on abandoned kittens

DUNKLIN/PEMISCOT COUNTIES, MO (KAIT) – Kittens only days old are recuperating after local sanitation employees saved them from a garbage truck.

Two sanitation employees with Kennett-based Branum's Disposal Service were at the Hornersville community building dumpster during the Wednesday morning pick-up route in the city when one of the truck technicians heard the kittens crying.

The animals were in the trash pile that had been dumped into the garbage truck.

The men removed the kittens from the truck moments before one of them pulled the lever to compact the pile that contained the kittens.

The nearest agency to Hornersville for animal rescue is the Kennett Police Humane Department, which is located in Dunklin County about 25 miles away from Hornersville. The Humane Department is currently closed to cats.

Pemiscot Animal Welfare Society President Karol Wilcox said she was called to pick up the kittens from a doctor's office in Kennett, and she immediately tried to find volunteers who could provide a foster home for the animals.

"They're being (bottle-fed) every two to four hours by kitten replacement milk," she said. "You have to make sure that their bodily functions work by stimulating them like a mother would with a wet rag and everything. So, right now all systems are go and they're eating well."

Wilcox says one of the kittens appears to have bite wounds and an injured leg it is unable to use.

Hornersville Mayor William Foresythe says cats are often found near the dumpster located between the community building and the city park.

"There's cats around there all the time and we need to start keeping the dumpster lid closed," he said. "As far as we know nobody threw them in there, but it could've been but we don't think they did."

PAWS is asking for anyone with information on the kittens found in the dumpster to contact them at 573-359-0113 or 573-359-5802.

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