RSPCA South Australia is pleading for people with unwanted animals to either find them a good home or surrender them to a reputable animal welfare organisation. The plea follows a spate of illegal and cruel dumpings in the past two weeks involving 23 animals, five of which were found deceased.
RSPCA SA Chief Inspector Andrea Lewis said it was alarming that so many people were capable of treating live animals like garbage.
"The total absence of compassion and empathy in most of these acts is shocking, and remembering these are just the ones we are receiving reports about," Inspector Lewis said.
"It's tragic but highly likely other animals are being dumped that aren't being found, and dying horrific deaths entombed in whatever container the culprit has left them in.
"Most of these incidents involve kittens – we again urge people to do the right thing and abide by our cat management laws. This means getting cats desexed to prevent unwanted litters."
Details of the latest incidents are -
Sunday 25 Dec 2022 - Paradise – Seven kittens found inside a zipped up suitcase in a carpark beside the Athelstone Recreation Reserve off Range Rd just after 8am by local resident. Four of them approximately 10-weeks-old, three approximately three-weeks-old. All the kittens are in foster care.
Monday 26 Dec 2022 - Blair Athol - Three kittens and their mother found in cat carrier on Dover Street at 10pm by local resident, who took them home. Mother cat is approximately 18-months-old and in care at RSPCA's Lonsdale shelter while the kittens are 11-weeks-old and in foster care.
Thursday 29 Dec 2022 - Woodcroft - Following a report from a local resident about a suspicious looking box, two Onkaparinga council officers parked at the end of St Helens Crt cul-de-sac at around 5pm, walked along a path following a creek and found a large box with a smaller box inside it. On opening the smaller box they found five deceased kittens huddled together. Scratch marks down the insides of the box indicate the four-week-old kittens were alive when dumped sometime after 4pm on 28 Dec.
Sunday 1 Jan 2023 - Elizabeth South - Two three-week-old (neo-natal) kittens found in a cardboard box in Willison Reserve, off Willison Rd, by a local resident. Both underweight, one kitten remains under vet care inside incubator, other kitten is being cared for in foster home.
Monday 2 Jan 2023 - Salisbury – A local resident reported seeing a vehicle stop outside his home on Mawson Road near Salisbury Primary School at around 10.40am and someone letting a dog out of the car before it was driven off. The resident caught the dog, took him inside and called the RSPCA. The car was a white four-wheel-drive ute with a canopy on the back and a personalised numberplate that spelled out a word similar to "Hasty". The undesexed, approximately 18-month-old male dog is emaciated and appears to be part Boxer, part American Staffordshire Terrier. He has distinctive markings including one blue eye and one brown, and was not wearing a collar. The friendly-natured dog is now under RSPCA veterinary care and on a careful feeding regime so he can safely reach a healthy weight. He weighs 29kg and should weigh between 37-40kg.
Monday 2 Jan 2023 - Stepney - An employee at Avenues Shopping Centre found a guinea pig inside a shoebox on the footpath outside the centre at around 7pm. The guinea pig is about six-weeks-old and thin. There was some celery and sawdust in the box. He is now being cared for at RSPCA's Lonsdale shelter.
Wednesday 4 Jan 2023 - Woodville South - Mother cat and two approximately eight-week-old kittens found at around 8pm inside a cardboard box on the footpath beside Lillian Street, with a note asking the finder to care for the animals. All animals now in the care of an external vet.
