Half a dozen kittens, believed to be between three and four weeks old, are recovering at the Medina County SPCA after a good Samaritan saw a person driving a red pickup truck toss them out of the vehicle in a garbage bag.
According to the shelter, it happened around 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the corner of Wadsworth and Blake roads.
After the truck, possibly a Chevrolet, sped off, the good Samaritan went to investigate and found the six kittens covered in feces inside the bag, along with a Tupperware container of milk.
"Had this Good Samaritan not trusted her instincts and checked that bag, these kittens almost certainly would not have survived. At their age, they were far too young to fend for themselves, find food, escape danger, or even safely free themselves from the bag," said the Medina County SPCA in a Facebook post. "They also endured being thrown from a moving vehicle before being left on the side of the road."
The good Samaritan took them home, bathed them, fed them, and called the shelter.
"Because of her actions, these kittens are alive today," the shelter said.
The Medina County SPCA is asking for the public's help in finding the person responsible for throwing the kittens from the truck.
"There are situations where animal abandonment stems from lack of resources, or difficult circumstances and others try to extend sympathy towards their actions. This is not one of those situations that calls for sympathy," said the shelter. "Placing six helpless kittens into a trash bag and throwing them from a moving vehicle is not a misunderstanding, a mistake, or an act of desperation, it is animal cruelty. Plain and simple."
Anyone with information about who the driver may have been is asked to call the shelter at 330-802-7880 or email humaneofficer@medinacountyspca.com.
"We are appalled beyond measure and are committed to pursuing every lead available. The person responsible needs to be held accountable," the shelter said.
