Found Mauve, cat in Birmingham — Alert #2164

There are some truly sick people out there. Twenty six cats and kittens were found sealed in plastic boxes and carriers, dumped next to fly-tipped rubbish in a Birmingham alleyway. They were discovered between a bakery and a shop on Hawthorn Road at around one in the afternoon on 30 September, in broad daylight on a busy street. A member of the public found them and moved most of the cats into carriers before calling the RSPCA. Animal rescue officers said many were lethargic and struggling to breathe inside the sealed boxes. All of them were underweight and badly infested with fleas. Two, a four week old kitten called Mauve and a one year old named Mr Gold, are being treated at Birmingham Animal Hospital for anaemia and dehydration and monitored for cat flu. Both are improving. The other 24 are recovering in RSPCA care and will be rehomed. CCTV from the area is being reviewed. It happened three days after six kittens were found abandoned in a crate on Metchley Drive in the same city. The scale of this is getting worse. The RSPCA recorded 1,752 incidents involving ten or more cats at a single property in England and Wales last year, up 67% on the year before and nearly triple the 20