Abandoned kittens need a home

BY NADINE ARMSTRONG

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

Connie Brauer and Victor Harris say they have become accustomed to finding unwanted garbage dumped roadside in their neck of the woods. What they didn't expect to find during their daily walk was a litter of four kittens.

Their dog Mocha had sniffed out the defenseless young felines in the ditch along the Mines Road. “At first I thought, ‘Oh no, he has found a raccoon or something,’” says Brauer, who rushed home to find something in which to swaddle the kittens.

The couple said they had no choice but to bring the kittens home. The area is rife with owls and coyotes. “This is predator territory out here,” Harris said. “If we had left them there they'd be dead by morning.”

The couple has two cats and a dog already, rescued by the SPCA, and they didn't count on raising more animals. A home has been found for one of the kittens while the other three camp out safely in a greenhouse on their property.

“We've spent a lot of time already trying to find a home for them,” said Brauer, who estimates their age at about four weeks.

“My first concern was they weren't weaned yet, but they’re eating hard food,” she said. “They still have blue eyes, so we know they are very young.”

The couple knew a call to the Hants County SPCA would be fruitless. “They just don't have the space to keep animals, they are all volunteers doing what they can,” Brauer said.

Symptomatic of a greater problem

Harris said finding abandoned strays is symptomatic of a greater problem. He said people just don't have it in their budgets to have their cats spayed or have unwanted kittens put down. “When you consider it costs over $100 per animal for those procedures, it’s not surprising people go to this extreme.”

“Some unscrupulous person dumped them off on the side of the road to die. It's cruel,” Brauer said.

Because they live in a remote rural area, the couple says there has always been a problem with illegal dumping of everything from tire to fridges. The kittens are no different.

“It's the same thing when people dump their junk in the woods here,” Harris adds. “Either way, people here are stuck cleaning it up after them. This is no different.”

The couple says they haven't thought about what will happen if no homes are found for the trio. “It's all right for now, but once they get bigger I don't know what we will do.”

Harris has examined the kittens and says they appear healthy and flea-free, however, he said it has been difficult to determine gender at this stage. Two of the kittens are grey and white and the third striped black and white.

“They need a warm and loving home,” Brauer said. “Please call us to adopt these sweet little babies.”

For more information or to adopt a kitten call 798-5267 or contact the couple by e-mail at cbrauer@lincsat.com.